The History of the Number Zero

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Zero is where it all begins. The use of zero is well known today. But where did it come from? Everything is created, it does not just show up. The use of zero predates the twenty-first century. It is one of the largest controversies of all time. Present day math and even ancient math would not have been the same without it. Zero was conspicuously absent from most early number systems and all earlier civilizations. So where did it come from? No one knows exactly where and when it was invented, nor who invented it. The origin of zero is controversial. Many believe it was invented around 500 B.C., but each civilization/culture has their own theory.
Present day zero is quite different from its previous forms. Many concepts have been passed down, and many have been forgotten. Zero is the only number that is neither positive of negative. It has no effect on any quantity. Zero is a number lower than one. It is considered an item that is empty. There are two common uses of zero: 1. an empty place indicator in a number system, 2. the number itself, zero. Zero exist everywhere; although it took many civilizations to establish it.
In the Roman civilization there was no symbol for zero. Romans used the word “nulla” for an empty space. The word nulla meant “nothing”; what our common day zero means. Romans had a very unorganized number system. It was full of flaws. With no use of zero, there was absolutely no way for counting above several thousand units. When the Roman Empire fell in 300 A.D., the introduction and adaptation of Arabic numerals, today's decimal numbers, took place. Thus, the invention of zero, nothing, was a huge leap forward in Roman history.
The Greek civilization, on the other hand, believed the use ...

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