( x )
is far more probable that the Arabs received their first knowledge of Algebra from the Hindus, who furnished them with the decimal notation of numerals, and with various important points of mathematical and astronomical information.
But under whatever obligation our author may be to the Hindus, as to the subject matter of his performance, he seems to have been independent of them in the manner of digesting and treating it: at least the method which he follows in expounding his rules, as well as in showing their application, differs considerably from that of the Hindu mathematical writers. Bhaskara and Brahmagupta give dogmatical precepts, unsupported by argument, which, even by the metrical form in which they are expressed, seem to address themselves rather to the memory than to the reasoning faculty of the learner: Mohammed gives his rules in simple prose, and establishes their accuracy by geometrical illustrations. The Hindus give comparatively few examples, and are fond of investing the statement of their problems in
