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essay on the history of zero
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As ancient numerical systems came to be and evolved over time, so did the number zero. Zero did not seem to be an obvious start to the natural numbers to the mathematicians who pioneered the different number systems of the past. Having a symbol that meant basically “nothing” appeared in a few cultures but usually long after the initial creation of the culture’s number system and sometimes was a controversial idea. (Textbook)
The delay in adding zero to the number systems was most likely because in most cultures the earliest number systems were additive. This meant that they had symbols to represent certain numbers and merely added them all together to achieve the desired number. The symbols could be arranged in any order. This type of system did not require a symbol to represent zero in order to make any other numbers. Such systems are limited and eventually evolved into systems where the position of the symbols in a number changed its meaning. These positional systems are part of what created a need for a “place holder” symbol, which later would become the number zero. (Textbook, scientificamerican.com article)
For example, the Egyptian’s Hieroglyphic number system was additive and had no zero symbol. It dated back as far is 3500 B.C. and is one of the earliest known number systems. This system used pictures to represent the numbers 1, 10, 100, 1000, etc. Since order did not matter, the Egyptians did not even need a symbol to represent an empty space. Eventually the Egyptians created their hieratic system. The Hieratic was a more difficult system with more symbols (1-10, 20, 30, etc.) but still did not employ a symbol to represent zero as a number. There is evidence that Egyptians used their symbol for “good” ...
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... small circle was used for the number zero. (Kaplan)
Independently, the Mayans created multiple symbols for the number zero in their vigesimal (base 20) number system. The Mayan culture was at its peak from 300 B.C. to 900 A.D. and during this time there are many examples of glyphs used to represent zero. The most common was a stylized shell. Others included faces, animals, flowers, and different types of shells. (Kaplan)
The number zero now has many uses besides being the smallest natural number. It is used in set theory, logic (0 is used as the truth value for false), category theory, etc. Its position as the origin in graphs and number lines is essential to bridge the gap between negative and positive numbers. It is obvious that without it mathematics as we know it would not exist and though its creation seemed to have been delayed it was inevitable.
From that fundamental step, many cultures have built their own number systems, usually as a written language with similar conventions. The Babylonians, the Mayans, and the people of India, for example, indented essentially the same way of writing large numbers as a sequence of digits that we use, although they lived far apart in space and time (155).
Cuneiform was the first ever form of writing. The Sumerians were the main inventors of this writing. The symbol as we know them now consist of lines and wedges. One of the
In math, the Maya developed a system based on three symbols: a dot, a bar, and a shell. The dot represented 1, the bar 5, and the shell 0. The Maya used the concept of 0, 1200 years before anyone in the Old World. Their number system was based on 20 and the value increased from bottom to top.
Mayan’s writing allowed them to record their history, and because of this we are able to know more about the Mayans and their culture. They wrote using hieroglyphics, picture writing, based off of the Olmec’s script writing system (Maloy 9). These glyphs are thought to be the most advanced writing system in the ancient world (“Maya Culture”). As a result they weren’t deciphered until the 16th century by Diego de Landa (“Maya
In a Long Count calendar date there are five numbers which are separated by four periods (for example, 13.0.0.0.0). 13.0.0.0.0 is thought to have been the Mayan’s theory as to the world’s creation date. The Mayans used hieroglyphs, such as those in the image,
The Cuneiform Writing System in Ancient Mesopotamia: Emergence and Evolution | EDSITEment. 2013. [online] Available at: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/cuneiform-writing-system-ancient-mesopotamia-emergence-and-evolution [Accessed: 12 Nov 2013].
This means how much the achievement helped a society. The Mayan were the first to come up with the number system in the Americas. “The Mayan number system dates back to the fourth century and was approximately 1,000 years more advanced than the Europeans of that time.“says Michelle Mercer. But the eastern civilizations invented it first. However, the system put the Americanism civilizations in a better place for when the Spanish arrived, they could count. Whats even more important is they could show it in books or hieroglyphs, so archaeologists can know facts about them. For example, how many Spanish ships there were, or how many golden relics got smelted into gold bars. The Mayan calendar is pretty significant too, i mean, it's the calendar we use it today. But actually, they needed numbers to create the calendar. They would have needed numbers to keep track of the year, days, months, were to end, where to start, and where they were now.The significance of the Mayan number system is why I believe that it was their greatest
It started off as pictures that were drawn in caves and on rocks around 5000 BC.As time passed by, the pictures evolved and turned out to be the hieroglyphic scripts. The question was what do they mean and what were they used for? (Wilson, 2003, P.2)
One thing that sparked my curiosity, was how all of the ancient civilizations used hieroglyphics or symbols to communicate in writing. Today, many countries and cultures do not. They use the letters for their words and phrases. In fact, hieroglyphics is not really used in any place. The closest thing is probably Hebrew and Arabic which were derived from the ancient civilizations.
Mesopotamia used cuneiform to communicate information about their crops and about taxes. Daily events, trade, astronomy, and literature were scribed onto clay tablets. According to the website on Ancient Mesopotamia, “Numbers were represented by repeated strokes or circles” (Ankita Bhugra, 2013). The cuneiform are similar to, but more abstract than the Egyptian hieroglyphics.
These concepts had a major influence on many civilizations of the future, including most of the world today. The first basic forms of arithmetic were introduced, leading to advancements in many other aspects of life, such as architecture. Hieroglyphics were symbols used as a form of writing and communication. Either painted or carved into stone, they left behind a record of their world. These hieroglyphics were often complex symbols, so hieratic numerals were shaped as a more general form of writing to create more efficiency in their everyday lives (Oliver 6). “Egyptian priest-astronomers studied the heavens, mapping constellations and charting the movements of the planets” (Elisabeth Gaynor Ellis et al. 32). Using this knowledge, the egyptians developed the 365 day calendar which obviously had a major imprint on society today. They used their skill and intellect to build great structures and monuments (the Great Pyramids are some of the most sophisticated ones known today). Above all, the world 's first national government was organized, which was a foundation of their society. Pharaohs ruled with the assistance of a chief minister who would oversee the business of government. These chief ministers would keep track of many important things like tax collection, management of irrigation systems, and farming (Elisabeth Gaynor Ellis et al. 25). They had thousands of scribes that put forth instruction to
Pi is an incredibly essential number in our world, without it there would be a lack of innumerable things that have come to be necessary in our daily lives. We would not have the knowledge we have now about the celestial paths in our solar system and beyond. For common people, pi is the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter but there is so much more to this number. It is an irrational and transcendental number who has mathematicians’ interest peaked.
This representation is called preverbal number knowledge, which occurs during infancy. Preverbal number knowledge occurs when children begin representing numbers without instruction. For instance, children may be familiar with one or two object groupings, but as they learn strategies, such as counting they can work with even larger numbers. As stated in Socioeconomic Variation, Number Competence, and Mathematics Learning Difficulties in Young Children “Thus only when children learn the count list and the cardinal meanings of the count words, are they able to represent numbers larger than four” (Jordan & Levine 2009, pp.61). Typical development occurs along a continuum where children develop numerical sense, represent numbers and then begin to understand the value of the numbers. These components are required when differentiating numbers and
Due to archeological evidence we know that the African people were the first people in the world to use counting to keep track of their things, or time. Around 35,000 BC, in South Africa the earliest known tally stick was made, and was left in Lebombo Cave. 29 notches were cut into the stick. We don't know exactly what they were counting. Some people think they were counting the days from one moon phase to the next, but it could have been something else. Just as well. Now, what we do see is that by 35,000 BC people in South Africa had the idea of keeping records by making marks. “The Lebombo bone is a baboon fibula with a set of 29 notches carved in it. Archeologists believe these marks are evidence of a primitive calendar, measuring either the lunar or the menstrual calendar. This artifact is incredibly important for unders...
In the Roman civilization there was no symbol for zero. Romans used the word “nulla” for an empty space. The word nulla meant “nothing”; what our common day zero means. Romans had a very unorganized number system. It was full of flaws. With no use of zero, there was absolutely no way for counting above several thousand units. When the Roman Empire fell in 300 A.D., the introduction and adaptation of Arabic numerals, today's decimal numbers, took place. Thus, the invention of zero, nothing, was a huge leap forward in Roman history.