The Romans had no symbol for zero. Their number
system was not based on place value. If they wished to express
the concept 'nothing' they would use the word "nullus"
..
The
first evidence we have of the use of zero is in India. Indian
mathematicians were using zero in a place value system c.CD
to D CE
(c. = circa = around)
Zero
spread with trade along the Silk
Road to China & the Islamic world. The Arabic mathematician
Muhammad
Al-Khwarizmi introduced zero to Islamic world in the DCCCs.
He continued to develop the number system throughout his life.
To this day our number system is referred to as the Hindu Arabic
system in honour of its inventors.
By
the twelfth century Arabic texts were being converted to Latin
by European scholars. Eventually an Italian mathematician named
Fibonacci
wrote a book called the Liber
Abaci where he began to convince people that the new number
system was superior to roman numerals.
The
invention of the printing press in the 1450s then meant that the
use of the Hindu Arabic number system became more widespread.
As time went by and European powers conquered lands all over the
world, the number system went with them. This is why you use the
numbers you use today.
