Who invented zero in mathematics

Greek astronomers like Ptolemy made use of a hollow circle when calculating trigonometric figures, often adding a bar or line across the top.

This, argues Robert Kaplan in his book The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero , indicates they probably thought of zero as something closer to a punctuation mark between real numbers, rather than a number in and of itself. Likely the first to make this logical leap was a man named Brahmagupta, a foundational figure in Indian mathematics. In his mathematical treatise Brahmasphutasiddhanta , written in A. This represents a profound logical leap, argues neuroscientist Andreas Nieder in a paper.

The true origins of zero are still a subject of debate among historians and mathematicians. For example, the number zero may have shown up in what's now Cambodia even earlier than in India, argues Amir Aczel. The mathematician undertook a years-long search for the origins of zero, ending up in a shed near the ancient city of Angkor Wat. There, a tablet dated to the seventh century A. The book, published in , brought our modern number system to the continent, including its foundational zero.

The numbers caught on, and mathematicians carried the zero into the Renaissance and beyond. In Europe, as wherever else zero was discovered or introduced, it appears that the number never fell out of fashion. Register or Log In. The Magazine Shop. Login Register Stay Curious Subscribe. Planet Earth. Newsletter Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news. Zero reached western Europe in the 12th century.

Writing Numbers The Babylonians displayed zero with two angled wedges middle. The Mayans used an eyelike character [ top left ] to denote zero. The Chinese started writing the open circle we now use for zero.

The Hindus depicted zero as a dot. The symbol changed over time as positional notation for which zero was crucial , made its way to the Babylonian empire and from there to India, via the Greeks in whose own culture zero made a late and only occasional appearance; the Romans had no trace of it at all.

Arab merchants brought the zero they found in India to the West. After many adventures and much opposition, the symbol we use was accepted and the concept flourished, as zero took on much more than a positional meaning. Since then, it has played avital role in mathematizing the world.

The mathematical zero and the philosophical notion of nothingness are related but are not the same. Nothingness plays a central role very early on in Indian thought there called sunya , and we find speculation in virtually all cosmogonical myths about what must have preceded the world's creation. So in the Bible's book of Genesis : "And the earth was without form, and void. If you're nearby, we'd love to meet you - if not drop us a line or give us a call.

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It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Who Invented Zero And Why? Zero as a symbol and a value The first time we have a record of zero being understood as both a symbol and as a value in its own right was in India.

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