An Overviw of History.
Algebra, a staple of physics, chemistry, and many other branches of science and mathematics. The word “algebra” comes from the Arabic word “al-jabr”, which means “bonesetting”. This term comes from the moving of a term from one side of the equation to another. In addition, the geographical origin of the term is probably the most important to our analysis of the history of algebra.
The persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi coined this word in his work “al-Kitāb al-Mukhtaṣar fī Ḥisāb al-Jabr wal-Muqābalah”. He was a founding contributor to the principles of algebra, by introducing the concepts of “balancing” and “reducing” an equation. However, the true roots of algebra go much further than ancient Arabia. In addition to creating algebra, we have the Arabians to thank for our numeral system, and even the concept of “zero”!
In fact, the Babylonians were the first to use algebra. They used factoring, and multiplying both sides of an equation by an equal value to achieve an answer. The algebra of the Ancient Egyptians were inferior to the inhabitants of Babylon, though they were the first to use “proofs” to check their equations.
The Greeks moved ahead from the history of algebra into the mathematics of geometry. Actually, Euclid, a greek mathematician, is regarded as the “Father of Geometry”.
China also developed its algebraic maths as early as 300BC, and were able to come up with the first “Magic Squares”.
After the foundational concepts of algebra were set in the ancient world, numerous mathematicians have expanded this field to what we now consider algebra today in our classes, businesses, and international trading.
How to Apply to Your Own Worlds.
It appears that a prerequisite for the founding of mathematics is a writing system for your culture. Other than that, there appears to be no other precondition for the creation of algebra. Do keep in mind, however, that different cultures have seperate “base” numbers that can be fun to play around with. English and Arabic have a base 10 structure, while ancient Mesopotamia had base 60!