Who Invented Zero?
In short: Zero emerged separately in Babylon, Mesoamerica and India, first as a mark for an empty place and later as a number with its own rules, and historians still debate parts of the story.
A 1:24 short film in the series “From Fingers to Qubits”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.
Sources used in this film: MacTutor History of Mathematics, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, “Zero - MacTutor History of Mathematics”; MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews, “Babylonian numerals - MacTutor History of Mathematics”; Academia.edu (hosting the chapter 'Babylonian zeros', DOI 10.1163/9789004691568_006, Brill; the page also shows a related-paper preview quoting a Live Science article by Jessie Szalay, 18 September 2…, “Babylonian zeros”; Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Living Maya Time), “The Calendar System | Living Maya Time”; Heliyon (journal article by Rojo-Garibaldi, Rangoni, González and Cartwright, 2021), hosted on PubMed Central, US National Library of Medicine, “Non-power positional number representation systems, bijective numeration, and the Mesoamerican discovery of zero”; Science Museum (London), Science Museum Blog; written by Roger Highfield and Matt Kimberley, “Illuminating India: starring the oldest recorded origins of ‘zero’, the Bakhshali manuscript”; MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews, “Brahmagupta - Biography”; BBC Travel (BBC), “India’s impressive concept about nothing”; University of Oxford: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and Bodleian Libraries (Chivall, Lladó-Buisán, Howell, Evison, 2024), “Chivall_et_al_2024_Radiocarbon_dating_of.pdf”; MacTutor History of Mathematics (University of St Andrews), “Bakhshali manuscript - MacTutor History of Mathematics”; MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews, “Bhaskara II - Biography”.
Sources used in this film
- MacTutor History of Mathematics, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews — Zero - MacTutor History of Mathematics · View →
- MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews — Babylonian numerals - MacTutor History of Mathematics · View →
- Academia.edu (hosting the chapter 'Babylonian zeros', DOI 10.1163/9789004691568_006, Brill; the page also shows a related-paper preview quoting a Live Science article by Jessie Szalay, 18 September 2… — Babylonian zeros · View →
- Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Living Maya Time) — The Calendar System | Living Maya Time · View →
- Heliyon (journal article by Rojo-Garibaldi, Rangoni, González and Cartwright, 2021), hosted on PubMed Central, US National Library of Medicine — Non-power positional number representation systems, bijective numeration, and the Mesoamerican discovery of zero · View →
- Science Museum (London), Science Museum Blog; written by Roger Highfield and Matt Kimberley — Illuminating India: starring the oldest recorded origins of ‘zero’, the Bakhshali manuscript · View →
- MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews — Brahmagupta - Biography · View →
- BBC Travel (BBC) — India’s impressive concept about nothing · View →
- University of Oxford: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and Bodleian Libraries (Chivall, Lladó-Buisán, Howell, Evison, 2024) — Chivall_et_al_2024_Radiocarbon_dating_of.pdf · View →
- MacTutor History of Mathematics (University of St Andrews) — Bakhshali manuscript - MacTutor History of Mathematics · View →
- MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews — Bhaskara II - Biography · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews: Zero - MacTutor History of Mathematics
- Also: MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews: Babylonian numerals
- Also: Academia.edu (hosting the chapter 'Babylonian zeros', DOI 10.1163/9789004691568_006, Brill; the page also shows a relate: Babylonian zeros
- Also: The Calendar System | Living Maya Time
- Also: Heliyon (journal article by Rojo-Garibaldi, Rangoni, González and Cartwright, 2021), hosted on PubMed Central, US Nation: Non-power positional number representation systems, bijective numeration, and the Mesoamerican discovery of zero
- Also: Science Museum (London), Science Museum Blog; article by Roger Highfield and Matt Kimberley, 14 September 2017: Illuminating India: starring the oldest recorded origins of ‘zero’, the Bakhshali manuscript
- Also: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews: Brahmagupta - Biography
- Also: BBC Travel (BBC): India’s impressive concept about nothing
- Also: University of Oxford: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and Bodleian Libraries (Chivall, Lladó-Buisán, Howell, Evison,: Chivall_et_al_2024_Radiocarbon_dating_of.pdf
- Also: MacTutor History of Mathematics (University of St Andrews): Bakhshali manuscript - MacTutor History of Mathematics
- Also: Bhaskara II - Biography
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