Who invented algebra?

Algebra is essential and is taught to every student in high school, but who is responsible for inventing algebra? It was discovered and developed at different times and in different locations, and these discoveries and new ideas eventually came together to give us what we collectively call algebra today. read more

The word algebra comes from the Arabic الجبر (al-jabr lit."the reunion of broken parts") from the title of the book Ilm al-jabr wa'l-muḳābala by the Persian mathematician and astronomer al-Khwarizmi. The word entered the English language during the fifteenth century, from either Spanish, Italian, or Medieval Latin. read more

Algebra did not always make use of the symbolism that is now ubiquitous in mathematics; instead, it went through three distinct stages. The stages in the development of symbolic algebra are approximately as follows: Rhetorical algebra, in which equations are written in full sentences. read more

Algebra is a branch of mathematics dealing with symbols and the rules for manipulating those symbols. In elementary algebra, those symbols (today written as Latin and Greek letters) represent quantities without fixed values, known as variables. read more