Algebra is a branch of mathematics which may be roughly characterized as a generalization and extension of arithmetic.

Symbols are employed to denote operations, and letters to represent number and quantity; it also refers to a particular kind of abstract algebra structure, the algebra over a field.

The word algebra is of Arabic origin. The origins of algebra trace to the cultures of the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians who use algebra to solve linear, quadratic, and indeterminate equations more than 3,000 years ago.

Around 300 BC Greek mathematician Euclid in book 2 of his Elements addresses quadratic equations. Around 100 BC Algebraic equations are treated in the Chinese mathematics book Jiuzhang suanshu, The Nine Chapters of Mathematical Art. Around 150 AD Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria treats algebraic equations in his 3 volumes mathematics tomes. Around 200 AD Greek mathematician Diophantus , often referred to as the "father of algebra", writes his famous Arithmetica, a work featuring solutions of algebraic equations and on the theory of numbers.