3. MUSLIM CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE

~ 124 ~ Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Sicily, etc., where he studied different numerical systems and methods of calculation but never found one as satisfactory as the Arabic numerals. When Leonardo’s Liber abaci first appeared, Arabic numerals were known to only a few European intellectuals through translation of the writings of the ninth century Arab mathematician and astronomer Al-Khwarizmi. Leonardo began his explanation of the notation by observing: “The nine Arabic figures are; 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. With these nine figures and with the sign 0… any number may be written, as is demonstrated below.” The first seven chapters dealt with the notation, explaining the principle of place value, by which the position of a figure determines whether it is a unit, ten, hundred and so forth, and demonstrating the use of the numerals in arithmetical operations. The techniques were then applied to such practical commercial problems as profit margin, barter, money changing, conversion of weights, partnerships, and interest. The Liber abaci, which was widely copied and imitated, drew the attention of the Holy Roman