Al-Uqlidisi's decimal fractions
Fracciones decimales de al-Uqlidisi
- Date
- 952-953 · confidence high
- Place
- Damascus, Syria
- Credited to
- Abu al-Hasan al-Uqlidisi
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
His Kitab al-Fusul fi al-Hisab al-Hindi is the earliest surviving text to use decimal fractions with a separating mark, adapting Indian arithmetic to calculation with ink and paper instead of a dust board.
Its use is still limited; the systematic theory of decimal fractions is due to al-Samawal (1172) and al-Kashi (1427), earlier than Simon Stevin (1585). The manuscript was discovered by A. S. Saidan in 1960 (not 1966).
What it led to
- written calculation using Indian numerals
- decimal fractions of al-Samawal and al-Kashi
- modern decimal arithmetic