Al-Karaji

Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al Ḥasan al-Karajī (Persian: ‫اﺑﻮ ﺑﮑﺮ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ‬
Abū Bakr al-Karajī
‫ ;اﻟﺤﺴﻦ اﻟﮑﺮﺟﯽ‬c. 953 – c. 1029) was a 10th-century Persian[1][2][3]
mathematician and engineer who flourished at Baghdad. He was born in Karaj, a
city near Tehran. His three principal surviving works are mathematical: Al-Badi'
fi'l-hisab (Wonderful on calculation), Al-Fakhri fi'l-jabr wa'l-muqabala
(Glorious on algebra), and Al-Kafi fi'l-hisab (Sufficient on calculation).

Diagrams from Al-Karaji's work on

Contents
"hidden waters"
Work
Born 953
See also Karaj, Persia
Notes
Died 1029 (aged 75–76)
References and external links
Nationality Persian

Main Mathematics,
Work interests Engineering

Al-Karaji wrote on mathematics and engineering. Some consider him to be Influences

merely reworking the ideas of others (he was influenced by Diophantus) but Diophantus, Abū Kāmil Shujāʿ ibn
most regard him as more original,[4] in particular for the beginnings of freeing Aslam
algebra from geometry. Among historians, his most widely studied work is his
algebra book al-fakhri fi al-jabr wa al-muqabala, which survives from the medieval era in at least four copies.[5]

In his book "Extraction of hidden waters" he has mentioned that earth is spherical in shape but considers it the centre of the
universe long before Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler or Isaac Newton, but long after Aristotle and Ptolemy. He expounded the
basic principles of hydrology[6] and this book reveals a profound knowledge of this science and has been described as the oldest
extant text in this field.[7][8][9]

He systematically studied the algebra of exponents, and was the first to realise that the sequence x, x^2, x^3,... could be extended
indefinitely; and the reciprocals 1/x, 1/x^2, 1/x^3,... . However, since for example the product of a square and a cube would be
expressed, in words rather than in numbers, as a square-cube, the numerical property of adding exponents was not clear.[10]

His work on algebra and polynomials gave the rules for arithmetic operations for adding, subtracting and multiplying
polynomials; though he was restricted to dividing polynomials by monomials.

F. Woepcke was the first historian to realise the importance of al-Karaji's work and later historians mostly agree with his
interpretation. He praised Al-Karaji for being the first who introduced the theory of algebraic calculus.[5][11]

Al-Karaji gave the first formulation of the binomial coefficients and the first description of Pascal's triangle.[12][13][14] He is also
credited with the discovery of the binomial theorem.[15]

In a now lost work known only from subsequent quotation by al-Samaw'al Al-Karaji introduced the idea of argument by
mathematical induction. As Katz says
 Another important idea introduced by al-Karaji and continued by al-Samaw'al and others was that of an inductive
argument for dealing with certain arithmetic sequences. Thus al-Karaji used such an argument to prove the result
on the sums of integral cubes already known to Aryabhata [...] Al-Karaji did not, however, state a general result
for arbitrary n. He stated his theorem for the particular integer 10 [...] His proof, nevertheless, was clearly
designed to be extendable to any other integer. [...] Al-Karaji's argument includes in essence the two basic
components of a modern argument by induction, namely the truth of the statement for n = 1 (1 = 13) and the
deriving of the truth for n = k from that of n = k - 1. Of course, this second component is not explicit since, in
some sense, al-Karaji's argument is in reverse; this is, he starts from n = 10 and goes down to 1 rather than
proceeding upward. Nevertheless, his argument in al-Fakhri is the earliest extant proof of the sum formula for
integral cubes.[16]

See also
Mathematics in medieval Islam
Science in medieval Islam
List of Iranian scientists

Notes
1. "Muhammad Al-Karaji: A Mathematician Engineer from the Early 11th Century | Muslim Heritage" (http://www.mu
slimheritage.com/article/muhammad-al-karaji). www.muslimheritage.com. Retrieved 2018-08-10. "Of Persian
origin, he spent an important part of his scientific life in Baghdad where he composed ground breaking
mathematical books."
2. Selin, Helaine (2008). Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures.
Berlin New York: Springer. p. 131. ISBN 9781402049606. "Al-Karajī Abū Bakr Muh.ammad was a Persian
mathematician and engineer."
3. Meri, Josef W. (January 2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization, Volume 1 An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 32.
ISBN 978-0-415-96691-7. "During the tenth century CE, the Iranian mathematician al-Karaji (...)"
4. http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Al-Karaji.html
5. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Abu Bekr ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn Al-Karaji" (http://www-histor
y.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Al-Karaji.html), MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St
Andrews.
6. Robinson, M.; Ward, R. C. (2017-02-15). Hydrology: Principles and Processes (https://books.google.fr/books?id=
DBRpDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=al+karaji+hydrology&source=bl&ots=kO12dVE_ht&sig=ACfU3U0uF
uuk2xK-9NeOnVX2tu2bGMK64Q&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRse3nz6rgAhXOxYUKHeGXD1wQ6AEwDXoEC
AgQAQ#v=onepage&q=al%20karaji%20hydrology&f=false). IWA Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 9781780407289.
7. Muslim Heritage, Mohammed Abattouy (http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/muhammad-al-karaji#sec_5/) " Al-
Karaji is also the author of Inbat al-miyah al-khafiya (The Extraction of Hidden Waters), a technical treatise that
reveals such a profound knowledge of hydrology that it should be celebrated as the oldest text of its kind in this
field."
8. Sorkhabi, Rasoul (2017-12-21). Tectonic Evolution, Collision, and Seismicity of Southwest Asia: In Honor of
Manuel Berberian's Forty-Five Years of Research Contributions (https://books.google.fr/books?id=IQlQDwAAQB
AJ&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=al+karaji+hydrology&source=bl&ots=N6xj7Mcz95&sig=ACfU3U124aW9gv3iynpId
W-p21eEP_sAUw&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjm5LCf0qrgAhWH1-AKHWwqDYE4ChDoATACegQIBBAB#v=one
page&q=al%20karaji%20hydrology&f=false). Geological Society of America. p. 37. ISBN 9780813725253.
 9. Niazi, Kaveh (2016-01-01). "Karajī's Discourse on Hydrology" (https://brill.com/abstract/journals/orie/44/1-2/article
-p44_2.xml). Oriens. 44 (1–2): 44–68. doi:10.1163/18778372-04401003 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F18778372-0
4401003). ISSN 0078-6527 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0078-6527). "The hydrological concepts presented in
Inbāṭ al-miyāh al-khafīya, Muḥammad Karajī’s 11th century text on the construction of the qanāt, contain
unexpected premises and theories that set this text apart from its contemporaries. Even when not straying far
from the Aristotelian cosmology of the medieval world, Karajī’s hydrological discussions often represent a fresh
take on the common scientific wisdom regarding the flow of water at and near the earth’s surface."
10. Katz, History of Mathematics, first edition, p237
11. "You Have Got to Know...Mathematics" (https://books.google.fr/books?id=CdIAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26
&dq=al+karaji+first+formulation+of+the+binomial+theorem&source=bl&ots=pQINDvdPxZ&sig=ZqTfwF_lrERYHij
T5uz-c_mcn-0&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7v4n3lO3aAhXKvRQKHfP2COc4ChDoAQg_MAI#v=onepage&q=a
l%20karaji%20first%20formulation%20of%20the%20binomial%20theorem&f=false/) "Page 26"
12. Sidoli, Nathan; Brummelen, Glen Van (2013-10-30). From Alexandria, Through Baghdad: Surveys and Studies in
the Ancient Greek and Medieval Islamic Mathematical Sciences in Honor of J.L. Berggren (https://books.google.f
r/books?id=kAjABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=al+karaji+binomial+theorem&source=bl&ots=Al4S22US_
g&sig=35YJq4ATbr86k1XTgdzgTvCVsbc&hl=fr&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=al%20karaji%20binomial%20
theorem&f=false). Springer Science & Business Media. p. 54. ISBN 9783642367366.
13. Selin, Helaine (2008-03-12). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western
Cultures (https://books.google.fr/books?id=kt9DIY1g9HYC&pg=PA132&lpg=PA132&dq=al+karaji+pascal's+triang
le&source=bl&ots=NN84FLKEdM&sig=VaHrwEYBqKKo1DC5Vb9xdarXocw&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiis4CR4
97fAhVHSxoKHciHCzI4ChDoATAJegQIABAB#v=onepage&q=al%20karaji%20pascal's%20triangle&f=false).
Springer Science & Business Media. p. 132. ISBN 9781402045592.
14. The Development of Arabic Mathematics Between Arithmetic and Algebra - R. Rashed (https://books.google.fr/bo
oks?id=vSkClSvU_9AC&pg=PA62&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false/) "Page 63"
15. "THE BINOMIAL THEOREM : A WIDESPREAD CONCEPT IN MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC MATHEMATICS" (https://cor
e.ac.uk/download/pdf/82000184.pdf) (PDF). core.ac.uk. p. 401. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
16. Katz (1998), p. 255

References and external links

O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Abu Bekr ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn Al-Karaji" (http://www-histor
y.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Al-Karaji.html), MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St
Andrews.
Rashed, Roshdi (1970–1980). "Al-Karajī (or Al-Karkhī), Abū Bakr Ibn Muḥammad Ibn al Ḥusayn" (http://www.enc
yclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830902256.html). Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons. ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
J. Christianidis. Classics in the History of Greek Mathematics, p. 260
Carl R. Seaquist, Padmanabhan Seshaiyer, and Dianne Crowley. "Calculation across Cultures and History" (htt
p://www.cs.southwestern.edu/txcmj/aculture4f.pdf) (Texas College Mathematics Journal 1:1, 2005; pp 15–31)
[PDF]
Matthew Hubbard and Tom Roby. "The History of the Binomial Coefficients in the Middle East" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20060912173217/http://binomial.csuhayward.edu/MidEast.html)(from "Pascal's Triangle from Top to
Bottom")
Fuat Sezgin. Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums (1974, Leiden: E. J. Brill)
James J. Tattersall. Elementary Number Theory in Nine Chapters, p. 32
Mariusz Wodzicki. "Early History of Algebra: a Sketch" (http://math.berkeley.edu/~wodzicki/160.F05/HistIntr.pdf)
(Math 160, Fall 2005) [PDF]
"al-Karaji" (https://www.webcitation.org/5PuedD0UI?url=http://0-www.search.eb.com.library.uor.edu/eb/article-934
3818) — Encyclopædia Britannica Online (4 April 2006)
Extrait du Fakhri, traité d'Algèbre par Abou Bekr Mohammed Ben Alhaçan Alkarkhi (https://archive.org/details/ext
raitdufakhrt00karagoog), presented with commentary by F. Woepcke, year 1853.

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