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Ever wondered how the world would have been if India had not given it zero? Well, you may not have been able to read this article itself. Or, there would have been no computer, mobile, technology itself, and so on. In this article, we delve into the world of zero, or the value of ‘nothing’, which gives value to so many things!
So, what’s the value of nothing? It might sound like a trick question, but the answer has shaped the very foundation of our world. Imagine trying to calculate the distance to the moon, design skyscrapers, or even balance your bank account, without zero.
Zero is more than just a number. It’s a concept that represents both absence and potential. It’s the placeholder that makes complex calculations possible, the cornerstone of binary code powering every digital device, and the silent partner to every mathematical operation. Binary language is the one which is the foundation of computing. Everything we write, read, see, watch here is written in binary language, using just two numbers, one and zero. That’s it.
But here’s the fascinating part. Zero didn’t always exist. It took humanity thousands of years to invent, accept, and fully understand this deceptively simple idea. Its journey from ancient counting systems to the heart of modern mathematics is a story of innovation, resistance, and even philosophical debate.
The World Before Zero: How Did People Count Without It?: Before zero, early humans developed basic counting systems to keep track of goods, time, and trade. Ancient civilizations like the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Romans used number systems based on practical needs.
As per Wikipedia, Sumer is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC.
For Egyptians, it says that they are an ethnic group native to the Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to the Mediterranean and enclosed by desert both to the east and to the west.
And for Romans, it says, the Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Romans conquered most of this during the Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian’s assumption of effective sole rule in 27 BC.
The number systems of these ancient civilizations were Tally Marks, an earliest form of counting, with carved notches on bones or sticks. Roman Numerals, on the other hand, had I, V, X, L, C – efficient for recording but clunky for complex math. And Egyptian Hieroglyphs were symbol-based numbers, elegant but limited.
In all these systems, there was no symbol for ‘nothing.’ If you had no sheep, you simply didn’t mark anything. But this created confusion, especially in calculations. Imagine writing 102 without a zero, it could be mistaken for 12.
As Dr. Charles Seife, author of Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, says, “Zero is the most powerful tool we have ever invented because it allows us to think about the absence of things.”
Now, let us look into how the zero came into existence.
The Birth of Zero: Ancient Beginnings:
A. The Sumerian Placeholder (circa 300 BCE): The Sumerians of Mesopotamia were pioneers in many ways, including mathematics. Around 300 BCE, they used a placeholder symbol (like double wedges) in their base-60 system to differentiate numbers like 61 from 601. However, this wasn’t a true zero, it indicated a missing value, not the concept of ‘nothing.’
B. The Maya Civilization (circa 4th Century CE): Surprisingly, the Maya of Mesoamerica independently developed a symbol for zero around the 4th century CE. Their sophisticated calendar system required a placeholder, represented as a shell-shaped glyph. This was closer to a true zero, used both as a number and a concept in calculations.
But while impressive, the Mayan zero didn’t influence global mathematics due to the isolation of the Americas. The real game-changer came from ancient India.
India: The Cradle of Zero (circa 5th Century CE):
Aryabhata, the seed of zero: The brilliant Indian mathematician Aryabhata (476–550 CE) laid the groundwork for zero in his astronomical treatise, the Āryabhaṭīya. While he didn’t use a symbol for zero, his positional number system implied its necessity. For example, he wrote numbers like 1 0 0 (meaning 100) using place values, where the gap represented by a dot indicated an empty place.
Brahmagupta, the father of zero: Brahmagupta (c. 598 – c. 668 CE) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. He was the author of two early works on mathematics and astronomy: the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta, a theoretical treatise, and the Khandakhadyaka (‘edible bite’, dated 665), a more practical text. The true birth of zero as a number came with him, a 7th-century Indian mathematician. In his seminal work, Brahmasphuṭasiddhānta (written in 628 CE), he introduced 0 as a numeral. He Defined zero as the result of subtracting a number from itself (for example, 1 – 1 = 0). He established rules for operations with zero, including addition, subtraction, and multiplication. However, Brahmagupta struggled with division by zero, stating that it results in zero, which we now know is undefined. Despite this, his work marked a revolutionary leap forward.
He wrote in Brahmasphuṭasiddhānta, “When zero is added to a number or subtracted from a number, the number remains unchanged. A number multiplied by zero becomes zero.”
The spread of zero: From India to the world
Zero Travels to the Islamic World: Indian mathematical concepts, including zero, traveled westward through scholarly exchanges along the Silk Road. The Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi (keep checking Deshwale to read an interesting article on him, which will be published soon) (circa 780–850 CE), known as the father of algebra, played a crucial role in spreading these ideas. In his book, ‘On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals,’ he introduced the Indian numeral system, including zero, to the Islamic world. The Arabic word for zero, ṣifr, eventually evolved into the word cipher in Latin.
Zero Reaches Europe: For centuries, Europe clung to Roman numerals, which lacked zero. It wasn’t until the 12th century that the Italian mathematician Fibonacci (of Fibonacci sequence fame) introduced the Hindu-Arabic numeral system in his book, ‘Liber Abaci.’
Despite its efficiency, zero faced resistance. Medieval Europeans associated it with the void, nothingness, and even heresy. Some city-states banned the use of Arabic numerals, fearing they could be manipulated for fraud. But zero’s practicality in commerce and science eventually won over skeptics.
Philosophical struggles: The fear of nothingness: Why did zero face such opposition? Because it wasn’t just a number, it was an idea that challenged deep-seated beliefs.
Greek philosophy: Philosophers like Aristotle rejected the concept of the void, arguing that nature abhors a vacuum.
Theological concerns: In medieval Europe, zero’s association with nothingness clashed with religious doctrines about creation and existence.
In short, zero forced humanity to grapple with abstract thinking, the idea that ‘nothing’ could be something, a mental leap that revolutionized not just math but philosophy, science, and art.
The scientific revolution: Zero’s golden age: With the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution, zero became indispensable:
René Descartes’ Cartesian Coordinate System: Based on the concept of zero as the origin point.
Calculus: Pioneered by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, relies on limits approaching zero.
Physics: Concepts like absolute zero (the lowest possible temperature) and the vacuum of space are grounded in zero.
In modern times, zero is the backbone of binary code, the language of computers. Every digital device operates on strings of 0s and 1s, making zero the unsung hero of the Information Age.
Fascinating Facts About Zero:
- Zero as a letter: In some medieval manuscripts, zero was represented as the letter O, causing confusion with the actual letter.
- Zero in sports: The term love in tennis, meaning a score of zero, may come from the French word ‘l’œuf” (egg), resembling the shape of zero.
- Zero’s forbidden history: In 1299, Florence banned the use of Arabic numerals (including zero) due to fears of fraud in accounting.
Zero’s impact beyond mathematics and its influence beyond numbers:
- Philosophy: The concept of the void influenced existential thought, questioning the nature of existence and nothingness.
- Art and Design: Negative space in art relies on the idea of ‘emptiness’ to create balance.
- Economics: Concepts like zero-sum games in game theory analyze situations where one’s gain is another’s loss.
Zero is a paradox. It represents nothing, yet it’s the foundation of everything in modern life. From the sands of ancient Mesopotamia to the supercomputers of today, zero’s journey is a testament to humanity’s ability to embrace the abstract and turn the invisible into the essential. Without zero, there would be no calculus, no physics, no computers, and perhaps no concept of the infinite. In the grand equation of history, zero is proof that sometimes, nothing can change the world.
