The New Prince of Maths

The time had come. Finally, I had invented that time machine. I had the chance to be the prince of math instead of Carl Friedrich Gauss. I was already the king of physics due to this brilliant invention. Now it was time for the world to acknowledge my supremacy! I should have explained “my” theorems to many people in order for them to be remembered. Going to the year 800 and Mesopotamia could be a great choice. So, I prepared myself for this long journey and entered the machine! It was dark. As I remember, the place where I landed seemed to be a desert. I tried to see someone, but it was for nothing. Then, I decided to run away. I found a village after one hour, I guess. It was not hard for me to find someone who could lead me to Khurasan, since I knew Arabic and Turkish. When I arrived there, people welcomed me well. I found a man called Al-Khwarizmi, a well-known mathematician. He was 20 years old; hence I had the opportunity to be known as much as he could. I told him about derivatives, which teachers teach us in high school. He was surprised, maybe because someone he hadn’t met before told him about a subject with no reason, or because the derivative was invented in a very clever way. I would choose the latter one. I asked to stay at his home until I found another place, and I offered to teach him math. He agreed after a short brainstorm. It was my fifth day in Khurasan. I had been “teaching” some other subjects to Al-Khwarizmi, but the subjects I knew were running out. Also, Al-Khwarizmi was inventing the theorems I told him about, which was annoying me. I had already started to write a book about all the theorems “I found.” Meanwhile, Al-Khwarizmi discovered some other properties of quadrilaterals. On the ninth day, he said that he had found a theorem for which I couldn’t understand the proof. Also, I realized that I couldn’t add new theorems to my book. Maybe, I didn’t know that much. Three months passed, and Al-Khwarizmi was by far better than me in math. I hid some proofs because I didn’t want Al-Khwarizmi to know much more than me in all subfields. I returned to “my own” century as the king of physics, not the prince of math. I realized that mathematicians were not keeping theorems in their minds. They were proving them and using theorems as they wished. I had tried to memorize everything about math, but I couldn’t improve on them. Al-Khwarizmi was better than me. The reason was not about theorems; it was all about exploring other ways. I thought that I could be the best mathematician, doctor, commander, or chemist if I had the opportunity to go to the past. But now I understand that I know nothing about my age.