8
N
EG
A
TIV
E
N
U
MB
E
RS
Negative History
The Chinese were using negative
numbers in their mathematics as
long ago as 200
bce
. Eight hundred
years later, the Indian mathematician
Brahmagupta created mathematical
rules for using negative numbers.
The Arab world continued to develop
the idea of negative numbers, but the
concept did not reach Europe until
the 1400s.
Any number above zero is a
positive
number
, but any number below zero
is a negative.
Negative numbers
have
been around for a long time.
In the 1600s, the English
mathematician John Wallis
created a number line that
included negative numbers.
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
POSITIVE
NUMBERS
NEGATIVE
NUMBERS
