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Algorithm's Cradle: Commemorating Al-Khwarizmi In The Soviet History Of Mathematics And Cold War Computer Science, Ksenia Tatarchenko
Algorithm's Cradle: Commemorating Al-Khwarizmi In The Soviet History Of Mathematics And Cold War Computer Science, Ksenia Tatarchenko
Research Collection College of Integrative Studies
This chapter investigates the origin narratives and commemoration practices that came hand in hand with the growing cultural authority of the algorithm after World War II, culminating in celebrations in honor of the 1,200th anniversary of the medieval scholar Abu MODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RINGAdallah Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. I first show how al-Khwarizmi's legacy was claimed by Soviet historians of mathematics aiming to construct a history inspired by dialectical materialism, a goal that eventually led to arguments about the distinct, algorithmic character of mathematics in the East. Next, I study how these ideas were appropriated by the international community …