Who Invented The Number Zero?
Believe it or not, every number has a story behind its inception
and zero, is not an exception to the rule despite essentially being
the absence of a number. In the beginning, zero was not used
very often, if at all, and the funny thing about its creation is the
fact that, on record, it was created three different times by three
different sets of people. But let us start from the beginning on who
exactly created this absent number.
The Babylonian empire
The first recorded time the zero was “invented” was during the
third century BC by the Babylonian empire. This would be the only
time the zero would be used for a long, long time until the Mayans
came to pass. This would be one hundred years later when the
Mayans in Central America created the zero for their own uses to
make things easier for their people to discern certain inequities.
Again another one hundred years later, the zero would be
“invented” again, and for the final time, in India, where it would
finally catch on worldwide as a legitimate number endorsed by
most civilizations at the time across the world. By time it reached
Europe in the 12th century, most if not, all mathematicians utilized
the zero.
Undoubtedly the complete credit goes to INDIA for the invention of ZERO and its effects use as a
number. In the beginning it was shown in the form of DOT or sometimes by a circle. It was known by the
name “SHUNYA” meaning nothing in Sanskrit.
Historians believed that it came into existence from 458 A.D.
Most of the number and problems were written in verses form (Known as SLOKA in Sanskrit) or
in the basis of natural things.
For Ex: Moon and Earth represents the Number 1, Eyes represents the Number 2, Indians were
the
First
to
introduce
Base
10
system
for
the
calculations.
The opinion of historians says that the invention and application of Zero made effectively in and
application of Zero made effectively in India because of the non availability of counting
instruments ‘abacus’ which was popular during that period in different countries. The
dependency to write the number for commercial purpose many be the main reason for its
invention in India. The great mathematician of India Brahmagupta (Born in Multan and lived
during 598-660 A.D) wrote on nature of Zero in his book “Bramhagupta Siddhanth”
<!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->A + 0 = A
1)
<!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->A – 0 = A
2)
<!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->A × 0 = 0
3)
<!--[if !supportLists]--> <!--[endif]-->A / 0 = 0
4)
His first 3 formulas were correct but he failed to express the product of 4th one. He told it as Zero
instead of Infinity. Later it was solved by another famous Indian mathematician Bhaskar (1114
A.D – 1185A.D) who born at Bijapur in Karnataka. It was mentioned in his famous book
“Leelavathi”
Invention of Zero inspired by the Indians to invent the negative numbers and later algebra also
developed. All this shows the tremendous development of Maths and astronomy during 6th
century to 10th century.
Spreading to China, Arabia and Europe:
The rich knowledge of mathematics and Astronomy of India spread to China and Arabian
Countries.
During 8th century the king of Baghdad Kholof-al-mansoor sent his people to Sindh (Now in
Pakistan) for study of Mathematics, Astronomy and Medicine. Along with the education they
carried the important books also. Later these Indian books were translated to Arabian Languages.
Famous mathematician of Arab Al-khwarizmi (790 A.D – 850 A.D) visited India in 830A.D. and
he popularized the Indian numeral system through his popular book “Hisab-al-jabr-wa-almuqabilah”. He translated the Sanskrit word “SHUNYA as Al-Saifor” or ‘Saifar’. Later ‘Alsabr’ becomes Algebra.
Arabians found the importance of Indian Numeral System and felt that it was more useful than
other numeral system. They maintained the secrecy with other countries; they avoided the
admissions for abroad people to their instructions.
Leonard Fibonachhi (1170 A.D – 1230A.D) of Italy was the another famous mathematician who
popularized the Indian Numerals by his book “Leeber abachhi”
Wrote in 1202 A.D.
After the invention of printing press the Indian Numerals spread over to Spain, Italy, France and
than to Germany. During 16th century these became so popular and the use of Abacus Declined.
Etymology:
Afterthe translation of the Indian word “Shunya” became ‘Sifr’-Nothing in Arabic language. The
word ‘Sifr’ became ‘Zephyr’ in Latin. Later the word ‘Zephyr’ became ZERO.
The mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci named it as ‘Zephyrus’ and he popularized it in
European countries. In the same way it was called by different words in different languages with
the same meaning.
Shunya – in Sanskrit.
Cyfra – in polish.
Cifra – in Spain.
Zero – in French.
Sonne – in Kannada.
Ziffer – in German.
Siffra – in Swedish.
Meithen – in Greek.
Now, India is recognized with great respect for its invention of Zero by importance with
Technological world
In computer science, ZISC stands for Zero Instruction Set Computer, which refers to a chip
technology based on pure pattern matching and absence of (micro-) instructions in the classical
sense. The ZISC acronym alludes to the previously developed RISC (Reduced Instruction Set
Computer) technology.