• Question: Who came up with the symbols we use nowadays to represent the numbers 0 - 9?

    Asked by on 17 Jun 2020. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Daniel Bearup

      Daniel Bearup answered on 17 Jun 2020:

      The symbols themselves have changed over the years. If you look carefully at the Arabic numerals used around 1000AD they are pretty close to the modern form.

      On the other hand the number system itself, i.e. having a symbol for 0-9 and counting in tens, hundreds etc, was developed in India much earlier between 300-500AD.

    • Photo: Tina Zhou

      Tina Zhou answered on 26 Jun 2020:

      This most commonly used number system (0-9) is known as the Hindu Arabic numerals. This system notation was developed by two great mathematicians from ancient India, Aryabhat (5th century BC) and Brahmagupta (6th century BC).

      However, the concept of using number symbols to represent numbers existed long before that. And many different ancient civilizations all had developed different types of number systems.

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