Journey Beyond Zero!!- Part 1

Posted by : Paras Saturday, 25 July 2015

Journey Beyond Zero!!

If you think that zero (0) is merely a symbol which is round in shape and used as a numeral then you may be wrong because zero is more than that. This article will take you on the journey beyond zero and will make you realize that zero is real hero!

Before the invention of Zero!!

We see 0 everywhere. From morning to evening we are surrounded by numbers whether we are in school, home or office. But have you ever imagined that how world looked before the invention of zero.

We need to get to the history to know the world before zero!

Numbers were used thousands of years before the invention of zero. In history we get many records of the counting methods that were used by ancient people before the zero was invented.

Egyptians: Ancient Egypt was an intelligent and advanced civilization that began almost 8,000 years ago. It introduced to the world a variety of useful inventions, structures and customs that are still studied today. They used a special counting method called hieroglyphic. This method was built upon symbols that represented a special type of sound. They used this method in measurements, constructions science. But this method did not have zero or they did not need a zero but still they were the master of mathematics.

Egyptians used Hieroglyphic counting Method in their sciences!

Romans: Romans had rich legacy of innovation and invention can still be seen today. The Romans were prodigious builders and expert civil engineers, and their thriving civilization produced advances in technology, culture, and architecture. Romans also had their number system. It was less sophisticated than Egyptians hieroglyphic. But this number system was also missing main ingredient of today’s mathematics (the zero [0]).

Romans were also in search of something that was nothing[0].

Greeks: The Greeks gave many great philosophers like Archimedes and Herons and are known for their invention in mechanics (like screws, gears, rotary mills, calipers, levers etc.), mining, clock and many more. They brought mathematics to highest point and had their own number system. This system was new and avoided repetition of letters.

So all civilization had advanced technology and science, but they were missing something. They did not have a thing that was nothing but everything- the zero [0].

Greeks were great mathematicians without Zero!

India’s gift to the world!!

India known for spiritual science and ancient philosophy gave the world a philosophical concept of sunya ( शून्य as in sanskrit).

”This thing [0] has nothing, but everything!!”

Acharya Aryabhatt was first to give the concept of sunya [0]!

Sunya was invented by ancient great scientist of india “Acharya Aryabhatt”.

Acharya Aryabhatt not only just invented merely a symbol but they gave the world the concept that sunya [0] is origin and end of everything. It means that everything in this universe comes from zero and goes to the zero [0] ultimately zero is the origin and the end of everything.

In India zero was not only used in mathematical form but also in spiritual form!

The sunya [0] was represented as a dot and later on in 500 C.E they started using small circle to represent it.

So ultimately the zero as a symbol and concept is just like a gift to the world from India because on this concept only our modern science and digital technology is based.

Zero travels to west!!

Zero was being used by Indians from 9^th century but it was unknown to the west at that time. The credit of spreading zero to the world goes to Arabic nomads, who used to travel place to place. Arabians also had their number system( called Arabic numbers) but when they came to India they realized the importance of the number system used in by Aryans, and took this zero’s concept with them and fused it with the Arabic numbers system.

Westerners resisted the use of Hindu-Arabic numerals because that numbers looked strange and moreover use of numbers containing 0 were banned in Italy.

“The Word Zero comes from Italy”

Leonardo of Pisa was first European to spread zeros concept in Europe!

But after great conflict regarding zero, Leonardo of Pisa (known as Fibbonacci) learnt Hindu-Arabic numerals and used that knowledge in his book, and finally in 1500s zero was accepted as a numeral.