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WHOLE NUMBERS

Why is zero an Eastern Invention?

The oldest zero dated up to now, Bakshali Zero from Peshawar, Pakistan. Around 200-300 AD.

How zero revolutionized development in Mathematics.

Natural numbers along with Zero are called Whole numbers. This was included to a positional number system prevailing in India at that time. This meant that is was a placeholder and also gave value to the place, which meant that only 10 symbols were required to represent a number and mathematics could now be done on paper. The Babylonian system was the most powerful system at the time, though they did not have a symbol for giving value to a place which did not have a value. And hence needed a Abacus and meant that higher order problem solving was difficult. Also only the privileged ones could perform even basic arithmetic for household needs.

Now the oldest zero discovered today is from the Bakshali village in Peshawar, Pakistan and is dated to 200-300AD. The second one is the Ankor Wat temple complex in Cambodia in Indonesia dated to 600 AD  and finally the third  one in a small temple in Gwalior fort in Madhya Pradesh dated to 800 AD.

This eastern connection of zero can be attributed to the concept of nothingness, which is a core belief system in both Hinduism and Buddhism. But the most important aspect of Zero is that it is a symbol for nothing.

This system was traded by the Arabs to the west, something they were always good at and today we know these numbers the Hindu-Arabic numerals. Though it took some time for the west to use this system after replacing the Roman numerals. The Renaissance marked the beginnings of the widespread use of the system and saw exponential growth in Science and Mathematics and the Industrial Revolution to follow.  

The next type of numbers is the negative numbers which would stretch the number line to the left or opposite to the natural number system.

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