A History of Nothing
Over at Impearls, Michael McNeil has posted an interesting bit about the history of the number zero.
Michael traces the concept of zero not to the Arab world (a popular misconception, no doubt related to the etymology of the word “zero”, which is derived from the Arabic sifr), but to Indian mathematicians. Britannica suggests the concept goes back, in one form or another, at least to the 3rd century BC Babylonians.
(See Topic: Zero for more on the history of the concept of zero from Britannica.)
Thank you to your link to Impearls’ article. However, your piece incorrectly summarizes the point of that article in that it does not suggest that Hindu mathematicians were responsible for the invention of the zero (though they did invent the forerunner of the base-10, popularly called “Arabic,” numbering system that we use today). Rather, as Impearls’ article says, “Zero was actually invented a thousand years before Mohammed by the Babylonians” — thus putting it in full agreement with Britannica in this regard.
Comment by Michael McNeil (Impearls) — August 26, 2005 @ 6:50 am
You are correct. My mistake Michael.
Comment by eblogger — August 26, 2005 @ 2:43 pm