The history of Algebra begins in Egypt, Babylon, and India. Although it was in these areas that the roots of Algebra began, the message and teachings of it would eventually spread throughout the world. The Arabs first practiced this mathematical form, and they are given credit for spreading the teachings of Algebra to the world. It was they who brought Algebra from Egypt, Babylon, and India, and spread it to Europe and, eventually, the world. (1)
The history of algebra itself is broken into several sub-categories, and has been expanded upon by several hundred of the world's greatest mathematicians. Some of the sub-categories include the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, abstract linear spaces, as well as quadratic, cubic and quartic equations. Not only can Algebra be divided into sub-categories as subjects, but the groups that studied, or developed them can also categorize them. Egyptian Algebra, Babylonian Algebra, Greek Geometric Algebra, Diophantine Algebra, Hindu Algebra, Arabic Algebra, European Algebra since 1500, and modern Algebra are the most popular categories. All the different theories within Algebra each have been worked millions of times, checked and rechecked for their validity, and many have been proven incorrect. The work of each mathematician has been built upon by their successors, and is still changing presently. (3)
The actual word, "ALGEBRA", comes from the Arabic al-jabr, which means, "the reunion of broken parts". One of the most influential early mathematicians was a man named al-Khwariami. He is known as being so influential because he wrote one of the first Arabic algebras and also introduced the writing down of calculations in place of using an abacus. His collection of works is the basic theory of all equations, and includes examples and proofs for this early form of Algebra. . By the 12th century, a Latin translation of al-Khwarizmi's "Algebra" was create...