The House of Wisdom was a well-respected library that not only held books, but collected and preserved them. The main purpose of this vast library was to translate Persian books into Arabic, which later expanded to the translation of Persian, Indian and Greek texts. It was built during the 800s and founded by Caliph Al-Ma'mun. He was born in 786 and died in 833 after leading a life full of passion for knowledge. He was caliph during the period when the Abbasid Caliphate worked to integrate ethnic and religious minorities into their culture, which gave rise to the Islamic Golden Age. As a young man, al-Ma'mun was very invested in learning, he studied everything from arithmetic to poetry and was a brilliant student of philosophy and theology. Although he was not the only caliph to support scholarship, al-Ma'mun was by far the most cultured and passionate; he created an environment favorable to original thinking and free debate. Long before his reign, al-Ma'mun's great-grandfather al-Mansur started the translation movement. This movement was the foundation of the House of Wisdom; he spread the idea that the search for knowledge is a necessary factor in the life of society. Among the many scholars working at the House of Wisdom was Al-Khawarizmi, known as the father of algebra. Born around 800 in Baghdad, al-Khwarizmi worked at the House of Wisdom as a scholar. His involvement in the center's translation of ancient scientific knowledge helped him develop a unique knowledge of the world's accumulated wisdom. His importance lies in his discoveries of mathematical knowledge which were later transferred to Arab and European scholars. His masterpiece, a book of clear explanations of what would become all...... middle of paper ......lost its power following the Mongol invasions, the wisdom contained in the vast library was destroyed along with the entire city of Baghdad. However, through the extensive networks of learning established during the Islamic Golden Age, academic knowledge was safeguarded and deposited in various parts of Islamic culture. 23/research.highereducation1Tom Sizgorich, Abbasid Dynasty (Jim Al-Khalili, The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance (London: Penguin Books, 2010), 6.Al-Khalili , The House of Wisdom, 4.Ibid., 37-38Tom Sizgorich, al-KhwarizmiStockdale, Nancy, Abbasid Caliphate: The Abbasids: Patrons of the Islamic Golden Age, In World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras ABC- CLIO, 2004. http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com./.