Mathematics in translation

5 connections. A textual map, not a claim about exact geographical routes.

1. Greek Euclidean text traditionstranslation→Arabic translations of Euclid

   late 8th–9th century CE · high confidence

   Arabic translations of the Elements

   Al-Hajjaj’s early Arabic translation and Ishaq ibn Hunayn’s later Arabic translation document named textual work. They support translation, not a claim that every later geometry text follows one unchanged lineage.

   Evidence ^[EUCLID-AR]

2. Aryabhata’s Aryabhatiyatranslation→Arabic astronomical calculation

   before 1000 CE · moderate confidence

   An Arabic translation of the Aryabhatiya

   MacTutor reports an Arabic translation, Zij al-Arjabhar, by Abu’l Hassan al-Ahwazi before 1000 CE. This records a textual connection, while not establishing that every South Asian method travelled through this one work.

   Evidence ^[ARYA-TRANS]

3. South Asian numeral methodsadaptation→Arabic-language arithmetic

   9th century CE · moderate confidence

   Calculation after the method of the Indians

   The scholarly account identifies al-Khwarizmi’s work on calculation after the method of the Indians and its later Latin reception. It documents an Arabic-language engagement with Indian numeral methods, not a single route for the whole history of decimal notation.

   Evidence ^[KHW-TRANS]

4. Arabic algebra of al-Khwarizmitranslation→Latin algebraic writing

   12th century CE · high confidence

   Al-Khwarizmi’s algebra in Latin

   The scholarly reference records separate Latin translations by Robert of Chester and Gerard of Cremona. The link is translation and subsequent reception, not a claim that medieval European algebra had a single source.

   Evidence ^[KHW-TRANS]

5. Ibn al-Haytham’s Kitab al-Manazirtranslation→Latin Perspectiva / De aspectibus manuscripts

   late 12th–early 13th century CE · moderate confidence

   A medieval Latin optics tradition

   Sabra places the Latin translation in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, while noting that its translator, place, and exact date are unknown. The 1572 Basel Opticae thesaurus is a later printed edition, not the title of the medieval translation.

   Evidence ^{[HAYTHAM-TRANS]}