7
POSITIVE NUMBERS
1 2 3 4 5...
Complex
Calculations
Being able to use zero allowed Indian
astronomers to make complex calculations
that took their math way beyond that of
European scientists. They used their
advanced math to figure out that the Earth
spins on its axis and that it moves around
the Sun. It would be another thousand
years before the Polish astronomer
Copernicus worked this out!
Slow on
the Uptake
It took some time for zero to catch
on in Europe. Roman numerals were
still favored over Arabic numerals
(1, 2, 3, etc.) right up to 1500
ce
.
European mathematicians couldn’t
understand how a number could
mean nothing!
A stone inscription
dating from 875
ce
on
in
the Chaturbhuj Temple
the
India features one of
earliest uses of zero.
Copernicus
