| a [[173]] | |
| b [[174]] | |
| c [[175]] | |
| d [[176]] | |
| e [[177]] | |
| f [[178]] | |
| g [[179]] | |
| h [[180]] | |
| i [[180]] | |
| j [[181]] | |
| k [[181]] | |
| l [[182]] | |
| m [[183]] | |
| n [[184]] |
CHAPTER IV
THE SYMBOL ZERO
What has been said of the improved Hindu system with a place value does not touch directly the origin of a symbol for zero, although it assumes that such a symbol exists. The importance of such a sign, the fact that it is a prerequisite to a place-value system, and the further fact that without it the Hindu-Arabic numerals would never have dominated the computation system of the western world, make it proper to devote a chapter to its origin and history.
It was some centuries after the primitive Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭhī numerals had made their appearance in India that the zero first appeared there, although such a character was used by the Babylonians[[185]] in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era. The symbol is
