Al- Khwarizmi and axiomatic foundation of algebra

This paper intends to investigate the axiomatic foundations of algebra, as they were presented in the book of algebra of al-Khwarizmi (9 th century), and as they were developed in many subsequent Arabic works. The paper gives also a description of algebra evolution towards a discipline independent ofgeometry and arithmetic: the two disciplines whosemarriage had led to its birth.By an in depth reading of some details in the text of al Khwarizmi , we concluded that this mathematician intended to lay down the axiomatic foundations of that new discipline. His resort to arithmetical and geometrical means was a way of making his theory more accessible. He used them to justify the axioms: those that were not explicitly introduced per se, and those that were remained implicit. The paper also relies on some unedited writingsof al-Khwarizmi's successors, which could shedlight on the ways they used to consolidate the foundations of algebra and improve its methods. (author)