Interactive Murals

The portrait of al-Khwarizmi - as part of the Famous Mathematicians Mural at Sackville School. Al-Khwarizmi was a court Astronomer and scholar at the ‘House of Wisdom’ (an important library and research academy) in Baghdad. He popularised the use of Hindu numerals (1, 2, 3…) in the place of Roman numerals (I,II, III, IV, V…) and emphasised that the purpose of his ‘al-jabr’ book was to serve the practical needs of the people concerning matters of inheritance, legacies, partition and commerce. [66] FACT: The word ‘algorithm’ derives from his name and ‘ Algebra’ from the Arabic Al-jabr translated as ‘completion’ (regarding formulae using letters).

The portrait of Pythagoras - as part of the Famous Mathematicians Mural at Sackville School. Pythagoras was the passionate leader of ‘Pythagoreanism’ a pre-socratic religious and philosophical school that made developments in astronomy, mathematics, and music theories. The Pythagorean theorem a²+b²=c² is credited to his name, as is the ‘Tetractys’ a triangular symbol with 10 points, thought to symbolise space, the elements and the rhythms of the universe. FACT: the Pythagoreans were one of the few ancient schools to treat men & women equally.