The Algorithm's Ghost

The Premise

The word "algorithm" comes from the name of the 9th-century Persian mathematician, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. His texts, written in prose, described step-by-step procedures for solving equations. Modern engineering is built on symbolic math, a language he wouldn't recognize. What is lost, or gained, in this translation from rhetorical procedure to abstract symbol?

The 2-Month Project

Create a "Symbolic Translator" in Python. This program will take a simple, modern engineering equation (e.g., stress = force/area) and output a step-by-step solution in the prose style of al-Khwarizmi's texts. The tangible result is the working code and a short paper analyzing how this "ancient" representation changes the cognitive approach to problem-solving.