Al-Qalasadi's algebraic notation
Notación algebraica magrebí de al-Qalasadi
- Date
- c. 1450 · confidence medium
- Place
- Granada, Andalusia, Spain
- Credited to
- Abu al-Hasan al-Qalasadi, drawing on the tradition of Ibn al-Yasamin
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
System of abbreviations using Arabic letters for the unknown, its powers, equality and the root, written above the coefficients. It is one of the earliest symbolic algebraic notations, predating Viète.
The notation already appears in 12th-13th-century Maghrebi authors (Ibn al-Yasamin, Ibn Qunfudh); al-Qalasadi popularised it. There is no proof that it influenced European notation.
What it led to
- syncopated and symbolic algebra
- teaching of algebra in the Maghreb