Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

About Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, active in the 9th century, was a pivotal Persian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer serving at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. His enduring historical significance, earning him a #92 rank in global influence, stems largely from introducing Hindu-Arabic numerals (including the concept of zero) to the Western world and for his influential work on solving linear and quadratic equations. The term 'algebra' itself is derived from the title of his seminal book, *Al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wal-muqābala*.

Despite his foundational contribution to mathematics—the very basis of modern computation—al-Khwarizmi garners minimal modern internet attention. In 2025, his Wikipedia page views annualized at only 67K. For comparison, the contemporary mathematician Euclid, ranked slightly less important at #108, received 477K views, while Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (#575 importance) attracted a staggering 2.0M views. This represents an 'Attention Gap' of -9x, showing he is severely under-attended relative to his historical weight.

Interestingly, while his overall attention is low, his interest is showing growth: year-over-year views increased by +54.3%. However, recent momentum suggests a slight dip, with Q1 viewership outperforming Q3 viewership by 11% over the year.