Subject: [HM] zero symbols, Egyptian and Indian
From: Beatrice Lumpkin (Bealumpkin@aol.com)
Date: Fri Jul 14 2000 - 12:43:32 EDT
Dear friends,
Nimish Shah wrote, in reply to my discussion of the ancient Egyptian zero:
"If it is the case that the Egyptians used zero before the Hindus, then
maybe the History of Mathematics book need to be changed to state this."
In reply, to the best of my knowledge, Indian scribes were first to
consistently use a zero symbol as a placeholder in a positional value system
of integers. The ancient Egyptians never used a zero symbol in writing their
numerals. Their numerals were additive, not written with positional value.
Therefore there was no function for a zero in writing their numerals.
The two applications of the zero concept used by ancient Egyptian scribes
were 1) as a zero reference point for a system of integers used on
construction guidelines, and 2) as a value that resulted from subtracting a
number from an equal number. These are the achievements I believe should be
acknowledged by historians.
Bea Lumpkin
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