Monday, April 18, 2016

Getting Something from Nothing: the Story of Zero



If you put yourself in the place of ancient people, it’s a wonder that anyone ever came up with a number that means nothing. It doesn’t make much sense when you are counting objects, but it’s pretty handy for mathematics. Once the concept was there, it wasn’t universally accepted. But it turned out to be too useful to ignore. Dr. Hannah Fry of the Royal Institution lays out a short version of the history of zero. (via mental_floss

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