The Golden Age of Islam - Medieval History 7 2025: Mathematics

The use of Hindi-Arabic numerals (before there were only Roman numerals or the abacus) was a significant innovation.

Ideas for your Project:

• Research the mathematicians who made these discoveries and how the invention of Arabic numerals led to the invention of Algebra, trigonometry, and computers. 

Al-Khwarizmi was one of the most important figures of the Islamic Golden Age in the fields of Algebra and Astronomy.

Ideas for your Project:

• Write a short biography of Al-Khwarizmi that emphasizes his achievements and scholarship and the contributions that he made to Algebra and Astronomy.
• Explain how Al-Khwarizmi furthered Europeans’ understanding of the mathematical sciences.

Geometry had many applications in the Islamic world.

Ideas for your Project:

• Investigate the advances that Islamic mathematicians made with geometry.  Examples might include: designing curves for sundials; determining latitude and longitude; the distance between cities, and the direction from one city to another.
• Explain how artisans also benefited from Islamic advances in geometry.

Muslim mathematicians made one of their most ground-breaking contribution to mathematics in the field of optics.

Ideas for your Project:

• Explain and describe the contributions of Ibn al-Haytham, Abu ibn Sahl and Kamal al-Din-al Farisi to the field of optics.