| Math Mojo - Making Math Meaningful |
This was the question:
What
is the origin of zero? Does it have something to do with why x/ 0 is undefined?
Thanks
Professor Homunculus' answer:
The origin of zero is a nebulous
subject.
The Babylonians were known to have
used a space as a placeholder for empty "columns" as far back as 1700
BC.
Around 1400 years later, they developed the first known symbol to stand for
an empty place. It looked something like YY.
It didn't actually stand for the number we know as "zero." It was
never used alone. It was only a place holder.
The Mayan culture developed a symbol for the number zero, probably independently
of the Babylonians, sometime later. So did the Hindu culture.
The first records we have of the
symbol we use for 0, is from Hindu writings from the late 9th century.
There was no internet back then, but information still got around. Mostly by
camelback, or foot, so it took awhile for 0 to migrate to Arab lands, (probably
due to commerce).
Eventually, about 400 years after
South Asia and Asia Minor had been using 0 and inventing and discovering math
concepts the we in the west couldn't even consider (because we were busy being
"religiously enlightened" and culturally superior) 0 finally got to
the civilized world.
In its superior intellect, civilized
Europe continued to use the Roman numeral system, refusing to change for as
long as possible, as the infidels ran circles around it.
Eventually the Europeans gave in.
That's the scoop in a nutshell,
The fact that almost anything divided
by zero is undefined came to the west much later. The zero came first, then
the paradox.
By the way, do you know which number divided by zero is not undefined, and why?
Find out by clicking
here.
Happy calculating,
Prof. Homunculus
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