The Al-Gebra Terrorist Cell

[ainwood]

At New York's Kennedy Airport today, an individual later discovered to be a NYC public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, protractor, set square, slide rule and calculator.

At a morning press conference, a White House spokesman said authorities believe the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. The man is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of maths instruction.

"Al-Gebra is a fearsome cult," the spokesman said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute value. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of mediaeval, with co-ordinates in every country.

The school board was quick to point out that "there are three sides to every triangle. Having possession of a compass is not an offence in itself. It's what some-one might do with it. It's really a question of degrees."

Many people remain sceptical. If God had wanted us to have better weapons of maths instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.

 

[GoldEagle]

Talk about a groaner.

 

[Takhisis]

Best joke in a long while.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Interesting that you speak of "maths". I think that the US might be the only English-speaking country to say "math" instead.

Anyways, yes, algebra, both the word and the concept, come from Arabic. A lot of modern knowledge comes from Arabic.

 

[Takhisis]

Since you say so, Eran:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=168939
Bow to me, creatures of Earth!

 

[LLXerxes]

The sad part is, I know about every single thing they're saying.

 

[Rik Meleet]

Well; the word "algebra" is named after the Arabic word "al-jabr" from the title of the book al-Kitāb al-muḫtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-ğabr wa-l-muqābala, meaning The book of Summary Concerning Calculating by Transposition and Reduction, a book written by Persian mathematician Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Ḵwārizmī in 820. The word al-jabr means "reunion".

While you're at it; al-Ḵwārizmī means "the Dutchman" in its original meaning; "man from the low lands". And al-Ḵwārizmī is still known for the Algorithms. al-Ḵwārizmī - Algorithm.

Sometimes there is truth in humour.

 

[Tycoon101]

I must say that that was brilliant Ainwood, thank you for that.

 

[Takhisis]

Hey Rik, about the Dutchman part of "al-Ḵwārizmī", is it some form of patriotism?

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Perhaps we could have a War on Trigonometry instead of a War on Terror.