The concept Zero played a major role in seeing the growth of higher mathematics which is a major step in the history of mankind. Zero is also a synonym of the word none. Although there are many stories that surround the invention of the number zero, studies show that the number was invented by a group of people from the Mayan civilization. At that time, the decimal system was in use just as it is today only that a space was left to indicate a zero up until the third century BC. The other version of the story is that, it was invented by the Indian mathematician and astronomer, Aryabhata, around 9th century C.E. There is also a claim that tracks the invention of zero back to 300 B.C in Babylon. All these inventions were independently made, and were not connected.
The Invention of the Zero Around the World
The empty space was very confusing because it was also used for the separation for numbers. That brought about the dot to stand in place of a zero. The first time the zero symbol was evidently used can be traced to the seventh century AD. The Maya made the number zero invention specifically for the calendars used during the third century AD. Evidence of number zero was not realized in the Europe civilization up until after eight hundred AD from the Arabs who were coming to trade. The Romans and Greeks used the abacus to carry out their calculations and did not therefore need the number zero. The zero name was derived from the Arabic language.
It seems like the author of this article does not know that the Maya people lives in South America and not in India. The believe is that zero was invented by both in India and Maya in South America independently.
Sven Eriksson, obviously you don’t know what your talking about because its not “Maya” it’s Mayan. So don’t be saying anything about stuff when you don’t know much about it. Another thing, if you know so much about it then you don’t need to read this.
Actually, the Mayan’s were in CENTRAL America, not South America. Also, the author never stated or implied that the Mayan’s lived in India. The author also stated that Zero was invented independently in the Mayan civilization and in India, as well as China and Arabia.
Perhaps you should check your facts and do some critical reading before you jump on someone.