This applet closely follows the text of al-Khwarizmi and allows students access to the origins of quadratic equations more that 1200 years ago. The text can be seen in Rosen's English translation (1831) with the Arabic text in the same volume. It can be accessed here: [url]http://www.archive.org/details/algebraofmohamme00khuwuoft[/url] (see pp13-15 for this problem). The importance of the use of such texts in the classroom is considered in van Maanen's article here: [url]http://www.spd.dcu.ie/main/academic/mathematics/documents/MEI3proceedings.pdf[/url] (pp53-66).
