Sharp as a Marble - Come to think of is, isn't Al Jebrah a terrorist organization?

Mike says:

on 1/15/2010 1:46:05 PM

You would be interested to know that the English word "algebra" is directly derived from the Arabic "al-jabr" since Western European rediscovered algebra and a whole lot of other things from the Arabs during the Middle Ages.

1911Man says:

on 1/15/2010 2:51:43 PM

That was thousands of years ago, and they have not invented anything since. Anything.

It must be quite disheartening to them, that they're forced to trot out this single (and fairly lame, in that it's only mathematics and not science, much less engineering) example, in essentially every defense against charges of being a backward, repressive, unenlightened culture/religion. I cannot imagine how it must feel, to internally know that every iPod, LandCruiser, sat phone, etc. which one desires to acquire for improving one's quality of life, has been invented by the opfor.

By way of contrast, I get to have lunch today with several of the world's smartest people, each of whom has been instrumental in creating various computer-like devices which I use and enjoy daily. They're personal friends of mine. And I get to share in their enlightenment. We swap ideas and stories of invention and creation, vs plans for how our children might blow themselves up.

Yeah, boy, I sure hate being an infidel alright...

1911Man says:

on 1/15/2010 2:52:32 PM

That was thousands of years ago, and they have not invented anything since. Anything.

It must be quite disheartening to them, that they're forced to trot out this single (and fairly lame, in that it's only mathematics and not science, much less engineering) example, in essentially every defense against charges of being a backward, repressive, unenlightened culture/religion. I cannot imagine how it must feel, to internally know that every iPod, LandCruiser, sat phone, etc. which one desires to acquire for improving one's quality of life, has been invented by the opfor.

By way of contrast, I get to have lunch today with several of the world's smartest people, each of whom has been instrumental in creating various computer-like devices which I use and enjoy daily. They're personal friends of mine. And I get to share in their enlightenment. We swap ideas and stories of invention and creation, vs plans for how our children might blow themselves up.

Yeah, boy, I sure hate being an infidel alright...

Sendarius says:

on 1/16/2010 8:59:02 AM

If "algebra" stems from "al-jabr" with the "al" indicating an Arabic root, where does "alcohol" come from?

Billll says:

on 1/16/2010 6:55:54 PM

Integers are OK, it's the irrational numbers you can't negotiate with.