section_path: Contributions/Arithmetic
section_name: Arithmetic
paragraph_text: Arithmetic
  
  Al-Khwārizmī's second most influential work was on the subject of arithmetic, which survived in Latin translations but is lost in the original Arabic. His writings include the text kitāb al-ḥisāb al-hindī ('Book of Indian computation'), and perhaps a more elementary text, kitab al-jam' wa'l-tafriq al-ḥisāb al-hindī ('Addition and subtraction in Indian arithmetic'). These texts described algorithms on decimal numbers (Hindu–Arabic numerals) that could be carried out on a dust board. Called takht in Arabic (Latin: tabula), a board covered with a thin layer of dust or sand was employed for calculations, on which figures could be written with a stylus and easily erased and replaced when necessary. Al-Khwarizmi's algorithms were used for almost three centuries, until replaced by Al-Uqlidisi 's algorithms that could be carried out with pen and paper.
  
  As part of 12th century wave of Arabic science flowing into Europe via translations, these texts proved to be revolutionary in Europe. Al-Khwarizmi's Latinized name, Algorismus, turned into the name of method used for computations, and survives in the term " algorithm ". It gradually replaced the previous abacus-based methods used in Europe.
  
  Four Latin texts providing adaptions of Al-Khwarizmi's methods have survived, even though none of them is believed to be a literal translation:
  
  Dixit Algorizmi ('Thus spake Al-Khwarizmi') is the starting phrase of a manuscript in the University of Cambridge library, which is generally referred to by its 1857 title Algoritmi de Numero Indorum. It is attributed to the Adelard of Bath, who had translated the astronomical tables in 1126. It is perhaps the closest to Al-Khwarizmi's own writings.
  
  Al-Khwarizmi's work on arithmetic was responsible for introducing the Arabic numerals, based on the Hindu–Arabic numeral system developed in Indian mathematics, to the Western world. The term "algorithm" is derived from the algorism, the technique of performing arithmetic with Hindu-Arabic numerals developed by al-Khwārizmī. Both "algorithm" and "algorism" are derived from the Latinized forms of al-Khwārizmī's name, Algoritmi and Algorismi, respectively.