essay on invention of zero

Invention Of Zero Essay

Show More Undoubtedly the complete credit goes to INDIA for the invention of ZERO and its effects use as a number. In the beginning it was shown in the form of DOT or sometimes by a circle. It was known by the name “SHUNYA” meaning nothing in Sanskrit. Historians believed that it came into existence from 458 A.D. Most of the number and problems were written in verses form (Known as SLOKA in Sanskrit) or in the basis of natural things. For Ex: Moon and Earth represents the Number 1, Eyes represents the Number 2, Indians were the First to introduce Base 10 system for the calculations. The opinion of historians says that the invention and application of Zero made effectively in and application of Zero made effectively in India because of the non availability of counting instruments ‘abacus’ which was popular during that period in different countries. The dependency to write the number for commercial purpose many be the main reason for its invention in India. The great mathematician of IndiaBrahmagupta (Born in Multan and lived during 598-660 A.D) wrote on nature of Zero in his book “Bramhagupta Siddhanth” 1) A + 0 = A 2) A – 0 = A 3) A × 0 = 0 4) A / 0 = 0 …show more content… He told it as Zero instead of Infinity. Later it was solved by another famous Indian mathematician Bhaskar (1114 A.D – 1185A.D) who born at Bijapur in Karnataka. It was mentioned in his famous book “Leelavathi” Invention of Zero inspired by the Indians to invent the negative numbers and later algebra also developed. All this shows the tremendous development of Maths and astronomy during 6th century to 10th …show more content… After the invention of printing press the Indian Numerals spread over to Spain, Italy,France and than to Germany. During 16th century these became so popular and the use of Abacus Declined. Etymology: After the translation of the Indian word “Shunya” became ‘Sifr’-Nothing in Arabic language. The word ‘Sifr’ became ‘Zephyr’ in Latin. Later the word ‘Zephyr’ became ZERO. The mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci named it as ‘Zephyrus’ and he popularized it in European countries. In the same way it was called by different words in different languages with the same meaning. Shunya – in Sanskrit. Cyfra – in polish. Cifra – in Spain. Zero – in French. Sonne – in Kannada. Ziffer – in German. Siffra – in Swedish. Meithen – in Greek. Now, India is recognized with great respect for its invention of Zero by importance with Technological world In computer science, ZISC stands for Zero Instruction Set Computer, which refers to a chip technology based on pure pattern matching and absence of (micro-) instructions in the classical sense. The ZISC acronym alludes to the previously developed RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)

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Essay on Zero in English (150, 200, 250, 500 Words)

“Zero,” a seemingly simple numerical digit, holds profound significance across diverse disciplines. From mathematics to philosophy, its invention revolutionized human understanding, shaping concepts of absence, potential, and existential inquiry.

Here, we’ve presented essays on “Zero” in 150, 200, 250 & 500 word samples. All the essays will be helpful for students of all classes i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & class 12.

Table of Contents

Essay on Zero in 150 Words

Introduction.

The concept of “Zero” holds profound significance across various disciplines, from mathematics to philosophy, representing both absence and potential. Its invention revolutionized numerical systems and paved the way for complex calculations. In mathematics, zero serves as the neutral element in addition and as the identity element in multiplication, fundamental to arithmetic operations.

Importance in Mathematics

In mathematics, “Zero” is not merely a placeholder but a cornerstone of numerical systems. It denotes the absence of quantity, enabling precise measurement and calculation. Moreover, zero facilitates the representation of negative numbers, essential in algebra and calculus for solving equations and analyzing functions.

Cultural and Historical Significance

Throughout history, “Zero” has held cultural and philosophical significance, symbolizing nothingness and infinity simultaneously. Its invention in ancient civilizations, such as Mesopotamia and India, marked a pivotal moment in human intellectual progress, shaping our understanding of the universe and our place within it.

In conclusion, the concept of “Zero” transcends mere numerical value, embodying both absence and potential across mathematics, culture, and philosophy. Its invention revolutionized human thought and continues to shape our understanding of the world today. From its humble origins to its profound implications, zero remains a cornerstone of human knowledge and discovery.

Zero Essay in 200 Words

“Zero” stands as a cornerstone in human understanding, representing both absence and potential across various domains. Its significance spans mathematics, culture, and philosophy, shaping fundamental concepts and calculations.

The Role of Zero in Mathematics

In the realm of mathematics, “Zero” serves as the keystone of numerical systems, enabling precise measurement and calculation. It functions as the neutral element in addition and the identity element in multiplication, facilitating arithmetic operations and laying the foundation for complex mathematical concepts.

Zero’s Cultural and Historical Impact

Throughout history, “Zero” has held cultural and philosophical significance, symbolizing both nothingness and infinity. Its invention in ancient civilizations, such as Mesopotamia and India, marked a pivotal moment in human intellectual progress, reshaping the way we perceive the world and our place within it.

Zero in Modern Science and Technology

In modern science and technology, “Zero” plays a crucial role in fields like physics, computer science, and engineering. It enables precise measurements and calculations, powering everything from advanced scientific research to everyday technologies like computers and smartphones.

In conclusion, “Zero” transcends its simple numerical value, embodying profound concepts of absence and potential across disciplines. From its ancient origins to its modern applications, zero remains a fundamental pillar of human knowledge and understanding, shaping the way we perceive and interact with the world around us.

Essay Writing on Zero in 250 Words

The concept of “Zero” has a rich history and profound significance across diverse disciplines, serving as the foundation of modern mathematics and revolutionizing human understanding of quantity and nothingness. Originating in ancient civilizations, its evolution has shaped cultural, scientific, and technological landscapes.

The Birth of Zero

Zero emerged independently in different ancient civilizations, with the earliest recorded use dating back to Mesopotamia around 300 BCE. Its formal introduction into mathematical systems is credited to Indian mathematicians around the 5th century CE, where it was symbolized as a dot. This innovation paved the way for advanced mathematical concepts and facilitated trade, astronomy, and engineering.

Zero in Mathematics

In mathematics, “Zero” serves as the linchpin of numerical systems, allowing for precise representation and manipulation of quantities. Its introduction revolutionized arithmetic and algebra, providing a cornerstone for complex calculations and mathematical theories. According to historical records, the Arabic numeral system, including the concept of zero, spread to Europe during the Middle Ages, catalyzing the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution.

Zero’s Cultural Impact

Beyond mathematics, “Zero” holds cultural and philosophical significance, symbolizing both absence and potential. In ancient Eastern philosophies, zero represents the void from which all existence arises, while in Western thought, it embodies the concept of nothingness and infinite possibility.

Zero in Modern Times

In modern times, zero plays a pivotal role in science, technology, and finance. From physics to computer science, zero enables precise measurements, computations, and algorithms, driving innovation and technological advancements. In finance, zero percent interest rates have been used as a tool by central banks to stimulate economic growth during periods of recession.

In conclusion, the concept of “Zero” transcends its numerical value, shaping human thought and progress throughout history. From its humble origins to its modern-day applications, zero continues to influence diverse fields, reflecting humanity’s quest to comprehend the infinite and the void.

Writing an Essay on Zero in 500 Words

“Zero” is not just a numerical digit but a concept that has shaped human understanding across civilizations, mathematics, and philosophy. Its invention revolutionized numerical systems and facilitated advancements in various fields, from science to economics. This essay explores the multifaceted significance of zero throughout history and its profound impact on human knowledge.

Origins and Evolution

The concept of “Zero” traces its roots back to ancient civilizations. The earliest recorded use of zero dates back to around 300 BCE in Mesopotamia, where it served as a placeholder in numerical notation systems. However, it was in ancient India, around the 5th century CE, that zero was formally recognized as a numeral and integrated into mathematical systems. This innovation, attributed to Indian mathematicians such as Brahmagupta, marked a crucial turning point in human intellectual history.

In mathematics, zero serves as the cornerstone of numerical systems, enabling the representation of absence or null quantity. Its introduction revolutionized arithmetic, providing a neutral element for addition and an identity element for multiplication. The adoption of zero and the decimal system facilitated complex calculations and mathematical theories. The widespread adoption of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, which includes zero, during the Middle Ages catalyzed advancements in commerce, science, and navigation.

Cultural and Philosophical Significance

Beyond its mathematical utility, zero holds profound cultural and philosophical significance. In ancient Eastern philosophies, zero symbolizes the void from which all existence emerges, representing both nothingness and infinite potential. In Western thought, zero embodies the concept of emptiness and the unknown, sparking contemplation on the nature of existence and the universe.

Zero in Science and Technology

In science and technology, zero plays a crucial role in measurement, computation, and innovation. In physics, zero serves as the reference point for temperature scales and gravitational potential energy. In computer science, zero is fundamental to digital logic and binary code, underpinning modern computing systems. The advent of zero-based numbering systems has revolutionized data storage, communication, and information technology.

Zero in Economics and Finance

In economics and finance, zero has significant implications, particularly in interest rates and inflation. Central banks utilize zero or near-zero interest rates as monetary policy tools to stimulate economic growth or control inflation during periods of recession. Zero percent financing offers in consumer markets influence purchasing decisions and consumer behavior, impacting economic activity and market dynamics.

Zero in Philosophy and Existentialism

In philosophy, zero prompts contemplation on the nature of existence, consciousness, and the void. Existentialist thinkers ponder the significance of zero as a symbol of human insignificance in the vastness of the cosmos, inviting introspection on the meaning of life and the human condition.

Zero in Literature and Art

In literature and art, zero serves as a motif for emptiness, absence, and existential angst. Writers and artists often use zero as a metaphor to explore themes of nihilism, existential crisis, and the void, reflecting on the human experience and the search for meaning in an uncertain world.

In conclusion, the concept of “Zero” transcends its numerical representation, influencing human thought, culture, and progress throughout history. From its humble origins in ancient civilizations to its pervasive presence in modern science, technology, and philosophy, zero continues to provoke contemplation on the nature of existence, the universe, and human consciousness. Its significance as both a mathematical concept and a symbol of existential inquiry underscores its enduring relevance in shaping human knowledge and understanding.

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YaleGlobal Online

The history of zero.

From placeholder to the driver of calculus, zero has crossed the greatest minds and most diverse borders since it was born many centuries ago. Today, zero is perhaps the most pervasive global symbol known. In the story of zero, something can be made out of nothing.

Zero, zip, zilch - how often has a question been answered by one of these words? Countless, no doubt. Yet behind this seemingly simple answer conveying nothing lays the story of an idea that took many centuries to develop, many countries to cross, and many minds to comprehend. Understanding and working with zero is the basis of our world today; without zero we would lack calculus, financial accounting, the ability to make arithmetic computations quickly, and, especially in today’s connected world, computers. The story of zero is the story of an idea that has aroused the imagination of great minds across the globe.

When anyone thinks of one hundred, two hundred, or seven thousand the image in his or her mind is of a digit followed by a few zeros. The zero functions as a placeholder; that is, three zeroes denotes that there are seven thousands, rather than only seven hundreds. If we were missing one zero, that would drastically change the amount. Just imagine having one zero erased (or added) to your salary! Yet, the number system we use today - Arabic, though it in fact came originally from India - is relatively new. For centuries people marked quantities with a variety of symbols and figures, although it was awkward to perform the simplest arithmetic calculations with these number systems.

The Sumerians were the first to develop a counting system to keep an account of their stock of goods - cattle, horses, and donkeys, for example. The Sumerian system was positional; that is, the placement of a particular symbol relative to others denoted its value. The Sumerian system was handed down to the Akkadians around 2500 BC and then to the Babylonians in 2000 BC. It was the Babylonians who first conceived of a mark to signify that a number was absent from a column; just as 0 in 1025 signifies that there are no hundreds in that number. Although zero’s Babylonian ancestor was a good start, it would still be centuries before the symbol as we know it appeared.

The renowned mathematicians among the Ancient Greeks, who learned the fundamentals of their math from the Egyptians, did not have a name for zero, nor did their system feature a placeholder as did the Babylonian. They may have pondered it, but there is no conclusive evidence to say the symbol even existed in their language. It was the Indians who began to understand zero both as a symbol and as an idea.

Brahmagupta, around 650 AD, was the first to formalize arithmetic operations using zero. He used dots underneath numbers to indicate a zero. These dots were alternately referred to as ‘sunya’, which means empty, or ‘kha’, which means place. Brahmagupta wrote standard rules for reaching zero through addition and subtraction as well as the results of operations with zero. The only error in his rules was division by zero, which would have to wait for Isaac Newton and G.W. Leibniz to tackle.

But it would still be a few centuries before zero reached Europe. First, the great Arabian voyagers would bring the texts of Brahmagupta and his colleagues back from India along with spices and other exotic items. Zero reached Baghdad by 773 AD and would be developed in the Middle East by Arabian mathematicians who would base their numbers on the Indian system. In the ninth century, Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi was the first to work on equations that equaled zero, or algebra as it has come to be known. He also developed quick methods for multiplying and dividing numbers known as algorithms (a corruption of his name). Al-Khowarizmi called zero ‘sifr’, from which our cipher is derived. By 879 AD, zero was written almost as we now know it, an oval - but in this case smaller than the other numbers. And thanks to the conquest of Spain by the Moors, zero finally reached Europe; by the middle of the twelfth century, translations of Al-Khowarizmi’s work had weaved their way to England.

The Italian mathematician, Fibonacci, built on Al-Khowarizmi’s work with algorithms in his book Liber Abaci, or “Abacus book,” in 1202. Until that time, the abacus had been the most prevalent tool to perform arithmetic operations. Fibonacci’s developments quickly gained notice by Italian merchants and German bankers, especially the use of zero. Accountants knew their books were balanced when the positive and negative amounts of their assets and liabilities equaled zero. But governments were still suspicious of Arabic numerals because of the ease in which it was possible to change one symbol into another. Though outlawed, merchants continued to use zero in encrypted messages, thus the derivation of the word cipher, meaning code, from the Arabic sifr.

The next great mathematician to use zero was Rene Descartes, the founder of the Cartesian coordinate system. As anyone who has had to graph a triangle or a parabola knows, Descartes’ origin is (0,0). Although zero was now becoming more common, the developers of calculus, Newton and Lebiniz, would make the final step in understanding zero.

Adding, subtracting, and multiplying by zero are relatively simple operations. But division by zero has confused even great minds. How many times does zero go into ten? Or, how many non-existent apples go into two apples? The answer is indeterminate, but working with this concept is the key to calculus. For example, when one drives to the store, the speed of the car is never constant - stoplights, traffic jams, and different speed limits all cause the car to speed up or slow down. But how would one find the speed of the car at one particular instant? This is where zero and calculus enter the picture.

If you wanted to know your speed at a particular instant, you would have to measure the change in speed that occurs over a set period of time. By making that set period smaller and smaller, you could reasonably estimate the speed at that instant. In effect, as you make the change in time approach zero, the ratio of the change in speed to the change in time becomes similar to some number over zero - the same problem that stumped Brahmagupta.

In the 1600’s, Newton and Leibniz solved this problem independently and opened the world to tremendous possibilities. By working with numbers as they approach zero, calculus was born without which we wouldn’t have physics, engineering, and many aspects of economics and finance.

In the twenty-first century zero is so familiar that to talk about it seems like much ado about nothing. But it is precisely understanding and working with this nothing that has allowed civilization to progress. The development of zero across continents, centuries, and minds has made it one of the greatest accomplishments of human society. Because math is a global language, and calculus its crowning achievement, zero exists and is used everywhere. But, like its function as a symbol and a concept meant to denote absence, zero may still seem like nothing at all. Yet, recall the fears over Y2K and zero no longer seems like a tale told by an idiot.

References: 1. Kaplan, Robert (2000). The Nothing that Is: A Natural History of Zero. New York: Oxford University Press.

2. Seife, Charles (2000). Zero: The Biography

Rights: © Copyright Yale Center for the Study of Globalization 2002

Home — Essay Samples — Science — Invention — Abuela Inventions The Zero Analysis

Abuela Inventions The Zero Analysis

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Words: 347 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 347 | Page: 1 | 2 min read

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The mysterious past of zero, abuela's big moment, the importance of zero, abuela's legacy.

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The Invention of Zero: How Ancient Mesopotamia Created the Mathematical Concept of Nought and Ancient India Gave It Symbolic Form

By maria popova.

If the ancient Arab world had closed its gates to foreign travelers, we would have no medicine, no astronomy, and no mathematics — at least not as we know them today.

Central to humanity’s quest to grasp the nature of the universe and make sense of our own existence is zero, which began in Mesopotamia and spurred one of the most significant paradigm shifts in human consciousness — a concept first invented (or perhaps discovered) in pre-Arab Sumer, modern-day Iraq, and later given symbolic form in ancient India. This twining of meaning and symbol not only shaped mathematics, which underlies our best models of reality, but became woven into the very fabric of human life, from the works of Shakespeare, who famously winked at zero in King Lear by calling it “an O without a figure,” to the invention of the bit that gave us the 1s and 0s underpinning my ability to type these words and your ability to read them on this screen.

Mathematician Robert Kaplan chronicles nought’s revolutionary journey in The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero ( public library ). It is, in a sense, an archetypal story of scientific discovery, wherein an abstract concept derived from the observed laws of nature is named and given symbolic form. But it is also a kind of cross-cultural fairy tale that romances reason across time and space

Kaplan writes:

If you look at zero you see nothing; but look through it and you will see the world. For zero brings into focus the great, organic sprawl of mathematics, and mathematics in turn the complex nature of things. From counting to calculating, from estimating the odds to knowing exactly when the tides in our affairs will crest, the shining tools of mathematics let us follow the tacking course everything takes through everything else – and all of their parts swing on the smallest of pivots, zero With these mental devices we make visible the hidden laws controlling the objects around us in their cycles and swerves. Even the mind itself is mirrored in mathematics, its endless reflections now confusing, now clarifying insight. […] As we follow the meanderings of zero’s symbols and meanings we’ll see along with it the making and doing of mathematics — by humans, for humans. No god gave it to us. Its muse speaks only to those who ardently pursue her.

With an eye to the eternal question of whether mathematics is discovered or invented — a question famously debated by Kurt Gödel and the Vienna Circle — Kaplan observes:

The disquieting question of whether zero is out there or a fiction will call up the perennial puzzle of whether we invent or discover the way of things, hence the yet deeper issue of where we are in the hierarchy. Are we creatures or creators, less than – or only a little less than — the angels in our power to appraise?

Like all transformative inventions, zero began with necessity — the necessity for counting without getting bemired in the inelegance of increasingly large numbers. Kaplan writes:

Zero began its career as two wedges pressed into a wet lump of clay, in the days when a superb piece of mental engineering gave us the art of counting. […] The story begins some 5,000 years ago with the Sumerians, those lively people who settled in Mesopotamia (part of what is now Iraq). When you read, on one of their clay tablets, this exchange between father and son: “Where did you go?” “Nowhere.” “Then why are you late?”, you realize that 5,000 years are like an evening gone. The Sumerians counted by 1s and 10s but also by 60s. This may seem bizarre until you recall that we do too, using 60 for minutes in an hour (and 6 × 60 = 360 for degrees in a circle). Worse, we also count by 12 when it comes to months in a year, 7 for days in a week, 24 for hours in a day and 16 for ounces in a pound or a pint. Up until 1971 the British counted their pennies in heaps of 12 to a shilling but heaps of 20 shillings to a pound. Tug on each of these different systems and you’ll unravel a history of customs and compromises, showing what you thought was quirky to be the most natural thing in the world. In the case of the Sumerians, a 60-base (sexagesimal) system most likely sprang from their dealings with another culture whose system of weights — and hence of monetary value — differed from their own.

Having to reconcile the decimal and sexagesimal counting systems was a source of growing confusion for the Sumerians, who wrote by pressing the tip of a hollow reed to create circles and semi-circles onto wet clay tablets solidified by baking. The reed eventually became a three-sided stylus, which made triangular cuneiform marks at varying angles to designate different numbers, amounts, and concepts. Kaplan demonstrates what the Sumerian numerical system looked like by 2000 BCE:

This cumbersome system lasted for thousands of years, until someone at some point between the sixth and third centuries BCE came up with a way to wedge accounting columns apart, effectively symbolizing “nothing in this column” — and so the concept of, if not the symbol for, zero was born. Kaplan writes:

In a tablet unearthed at Kish (dating from perhaps as far back as 700 BC), the scribe wrote his zeroes with three hooks, rather than two slanted wedges, as if they were thirties; and another scribe at about the same time made his with only one, so that they are indistinguishable from his tens. Carelessness? Or does this variety tell us that we are very near the earliest uses of the separation sign as zero, its meaning and form having yet to settle in?

But zero almost perished with the civilization that first imagined it. The story follows history’s arrow from Mesopotamia to ancient Greece, where the necessity of zero awakens anew. Kaplan turns to Archimedes and his system for naming large numbers, “myriad” being the largest of the Greek names for numbers, connoting 10,000. With his notion of orders of large numbers, the great Greek polymath came within inches of inventing the concept of powers, but he gave us something even more important — as Kaplan puts it, he showed us “how to think as concretely as we can about the very large, giving us a way of building up to it in stages rather than letting our thoughts diffuse in the face of immensity, so that we will be able to distinguish even such magnitudes as these from the infinite.”

This concept of the infinite in a sense contoured the need for naming its mirror-image counterpart: nothingness. (Negative numbers were still a long way away.) And yet the Greeks had no word for zero, though they clearly recognized its spectral presence. Kaplan writes:

Haven’t we all an ancient sense that for something to exist it must have a name? Many a child refuses to accept the argument that the numbers go on forever (just add one to any candidate for the last) because names run out. For them a googol — 1 with 100 zeroes after it — is a large and living friend, as is a googolplex (10 to the googol power, in an Archimedean spirit). […] By not using zero, but naming instead his myriad myriads, orders and periods, Archimedes has given a constructive vitality to this vastness — putting it just that much nearer our reach, if not our grasp.

Ordinarily, we know that naming is what gives meaning to existence . But names are given to things, and zero is not a thing — it is, in fact, a no-thing. Kaplan contemplates the paradox:

Names belong to things, but zero belongs to nothing. It counts the totality of what isn’t there. By this reasoning it must be everywhere with regard to this and that: with regard, for instance, to the number of humming-birds in that bowl with seven — or now six — apples. Then what does zero name? It looks like a smaller version of Gertrude Stein’s Oakland, having no there there.

Zero, still an unnamed figment of the mathematical imagination, continued its odyssey around the ancient world before it was given a name. After Babylon and Greece, it landed in India. The first surviving written appearance of zero as a symbol appeared there on a stone tablet dated 876 AD, inscribed with the measurements of a garden: 270 by 50, written as “27°” and “5°.” Kaplan notes that the same tiny zero appears on copper plates dating back to three centuries earlier, but because forgeries ran rampant in the eleventh century, their authenticity can’t be ascertained. He writes:

We can try pushing back the beginnings of zero in India before 876, if you are willing to strain your eyes to make out dim figures in a bright haze. Why trouble to do this? Because every story, like every dream, has a deep point, where all that is said sounds oracular, all that is seen, an omen. Interpretations seethe around these images like froth in a cauldron. This deep point for us is the cleft between the ancient world around the Mediterranean and the ancient world of India.

But if zero were to have a high priest in ancient India, it would undoubtedly be the mathematician and astronomer Āryabhata, whose identity is shrouded in as much mystery as Shakespeare’s. Nonetheless, his legacy — whether he was indeed one person or many — is an indelible part of zero’s story.

Āryabhata wanted a concise way to store (not calculate with) large numbers, and hit on a strange scheme. If we hadn’t yet our positional notation, where the 8 in 9,871 means 800 because it stands in the hundreds place, we might have come up with writing it this way: 9T8H7Te1, where T stands for ‘thousand’, H for “hundred” and Te for “ten” (in fact, this is how we usually pronounce our numbers, and how monetary amounts have been expressed: £3.4s.2d). Āryabhata did something of this sort, only one degree more abstract. He made up nonsense words whose syllables stood for digits in places, the digits being given by consonants, the places by the nine vowels in Sanskrit. Since the first three vowels are a, i and u, if you wanted to write 386 in his system (he wrote this as 6, then 8, then 3) you would want the sixth consonant, c, followed by a (showing that c was in the units place), the eighth consonant, j, followed by i, then the third consonant, g, followed by u: CAJIGU. The problem is that this system gives only 9 possible places, and being an astronomer, he had need of many more. His baroque solution was to double his system to 18 places by using the same nine vowels twice each: a, a, i, i, u, u and so on; and breaking the consonants up into two groups, using those from the first for the odd numbered places, those from the second for the even. So he would actually have written 386 this way: CASAGI (c being the sixth consonant of the first group, s in effect the eighth of the second group, g the third of the first group)… There is clearly no zero in this system — but interestingly enough, in explaining it Āryabhata says: “The nine vowels are to be used in two nines of places” — and his word for “place” is “kha”. This kha later becomes one of the commonest Indian words for zero. It is as if we had here a slow-motion picture of an idea evolving: the shift from a “named” to a purely positional notation, from an empty place where a digit can lodge to “the empty number”: a number in its own right, that nudged other numbers along into their places.

Kaplan reflects on the multicultural intellectual heritage encircling the concept of zero:

While having a symbol for zero matters, having the notion matters more, and whether this came from the Babylonians directly or through the Greeks, what is hanging in the balance here in India is the character this notion will take: will it be the idea of the absence of any number — or the idea of a number for such absence? Is it to be the mark of the empty, or the empty mark? The first keeps it estranged from numbers, merely part of the landscape through which they move; the second puts it on a par with them.

In the remainder of the fascinating and lyrical The Nothing That Is , Kaplan goes on to explore how various other cultures, from the Mayans to the Romans, contributed to the trans-civilizational mosaic that is zero as it made its way to modern mathematics, and examines its profound impact on everything from philosophy to literature to his own domain of mathematics. Complement it with this Victorian love letter to mathematics and the illustrated story of how the Persian polymath Ibn Sina revolutionized modern science .

— Published February 2, 2017 — https://www.themarginalian.org/2017/02/02/zero-robert-kaplan/ —

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History Of Zero (0) – Who and When Invented the Zero?

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History of Zero (0):

The number zero is said to have originated or been created in these three locations.

1. The Mayan Civilization 2. Ancient Babylon 3. Ancient India

In each of these civilizations, zeros were created at various times. Now let’s discuss each of them.

The Mayan Civilization

The Mayan Civilization from 2000 B.C. to 900 A.D. in what is now Mexico, used the concept of zero as a placeholder that is 505 is a way bigger number than 55 like using a comma in written language. In the seventh century B.C., the Babylonians used it similarly.

Ancient Babylon

The Sumerians, the first people in the world to develop a counting system, taught the Babylonians their number system. In the third century B.C., they invented the number zero . The place value system was invented by the Babylonians. The Babylonians placeholder was not a true zero because it was not used alone nor was it used at the end of a number. However, they never developed the idea of zero as a number.

Ancient India

The first-time concept of zero was a number and not merely a symbol for separation was attributed to India by great Indian Mathematician Aryabhatta in the 5th century A.D. He gave the world the digit zero for which he became immortal. Then BrahmaGupta around 650 A.D another Indian Mathematician was the first to formalize arithmetic operations using zero. To indicate zero, he used dots beneath numbers. For the first time define rules for zero and referred to it as ‘SUNIYA’ meaning ‘EMPTY’. Brahmagupta wrote standard rules for reaching zero through addition and subtraction as well as the results of operations with zero.

The only mistake in his rules was dividing by zero. He thought that one divided by zero is equal to zero which was later proved to be false and corrected after centuries that a number divided by zero is actually undefined. From India zero made its way to china and then back to the middle east in the late 8th century.

Where a Muslim mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarrizimi was the first to work on equations that would equal zero or algebra as it come to be known in the 9th century by 879 A.D. He had written zero as oval from a dot. But in this case smaller than the other numbers. Mohammed ibn- Musa al-Khowarizimi called the zero, ‘SIFR’ which means ’empty’. Following the Moorish conquest of Spain. Zero finally reached Europe middle of the 12th-century translations of Musa al-Khowarrizimi weaved their way to Europe but it still took a few more centuries before the concept of zero fully spread in Europe because in start religious leaders in Europe opposes zero because they believed god is everything and nothingness represents a devil which is a zero.

In 1202 A.D. an Italian mathematician Fibonacci built on Al Calrisme’s works Fibonacci developments quickly gained notice by Italian Merchants and german bankers to use zero accountants knew their books were balanced when the positive and negative amounts of their assets and liabilities were equal to zero. The next great Europe Mathematician to promote the use of zero was Frenchman Renee Descartes the founder of the cartesian coordinate system who used zero, zero(0,0) as the graph coordinates for x and y axes in the middle of the 16th century. Although zero was now becoming more commonly used by people. The developers of calculus Lebanese and Newton would make the final step in understanding zero. Over the century zero had different names. They are

So, that was the history of zero over the centuries.

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How did Aryabhatta invent zero? How did he get this idea? Why did he give zero an oval shape?

Aryabhata was one of the major Mathematician-Astronomers belonging to the classical age of Indian Astronomy and Mathematics. Born in Pataliputra,Magadha, he is regarded as one of the greatest Mathematician of all time. His famous works include the ‘Aryabhatiya’ whose Mathematical parts consists of topics on algebra, trigonometry and arithmetic, continued fractions, sum of power series, quadratic equations and sine tables.

One of his discoveries is the approximation of pi which is given by him in Aryabhatia,

“Add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000. By this rule the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 20,000 can be approached.”

The calculation is obtained as 3.1416 which is close to the actual value of \(\pi\)(3.14159).

Before going to Aryabhata’s invention of zero lets know a little bit about the Indian History of number zero.

Acharya Pingala, a Sanskrit scholar and an Indian Mathematician first used the Sanskrit word ‘Sunya’, referred to as Zero.The word ‘Sunya’ means void or empty. It is believed that the first text to use the decimal place value system(includes zero) was first used in Jain text or Cosmology named ‘Lokavibhaga’ . This is where the term ‘Sunya’ was used.

‘Bakshali Manuscript’, an Arithmetic manual on merchants records the symbol of zero which is a dot like structure having a hollow structure signifying void or nothing..These manuscripts were brought up by Radiocarbon dating ( which is a method of determining the age of an object using radiocarbon) in 2017. The ages were recorded to come from 224-383 AD, 680-779 AD, and 885-993 AD. This marks the world’s oldest record of the application of the symbol of Zero.

In Mathematics there is a term called the Decimal place Value System also called Positional Notation. This means that the value of a number is determined by the position of the digit that is the value of a number is actually the product of the digit by a factor which is determined by the position of the digit.

For example lets take three identical digits 999. Here the interesting part is in words the number is written as nine hundred and ninety nine . The hundreds tens and the units here are being determined by the position of the digits that is digit at the first place represents the units, second place represents the tens and the third place represents hundreds. Similarly any digit at the fourth place shall reprimand thousands.

This concept of the place value system, although was first used in ‘Bakshali Manuscript’ held a very important place in Aryabhata’s work. But the symbol for Zero was not used by Aryabhata. The use of Zero as a ‘digit’ was first used in India during the Gupta Period.

George Ifrah, a French Mathematician stated that the concept and understanding of zero as a ‘digit’ was first given by Aryabhata in his place value system because the counting system of digits is not possible without the place value system or zero. Also calculation performed by Aryabhata on square and cubic roots cannot be done if the numbers are not arranged in accordance with the place value system or zero. This concept of Zero is considered to be one of the best and greatest achievements of Indian Mathematics.

Now the rules for using Zero as a digit was first introduced in Brahmasputha Siddhanta, by Bramhagupta whereas in some stances his rules differ from the modern rules, one being on dividing zero by zero the result yields zero.

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5 comments on “How did Aryabhatta invent zero? How did he get this idea? Why did he give zero an oval shape?”

He invented zero in 5th century

It’s because of this digit that maths is still easy, Imagine a symbol for 10 and a whole different symbol for 100

Credit of inventing mathematical zero goes to the same person who invented present day numeral system.

Aryabhatta was counting the number of girls in his class so, there is no girl in his class and he discovers zero

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