Introduction
The Hindu-Arabic numerals are said to have come from the Hindus, Egyptians, Persians and Arabs. There is a presumption that the interrelation between traders served in carrying the symbols from one region to another and hence the accumulation from the different origins. Nonetheless, India is said to be the country that first used the largest number of numerals. The numeral system was established in ancient India. Prior to the emergence of Arab Empire the numeral system of the Hindu and Arabs was already going towards the West. The Arabs adopted the nine numerals in the 9th century. Initially, it was known in the West as Arabic numerals since the system had been adopted by the Arabs from India in the 9th century which then followed its introduction in Europe using Arabic texts in tenth century through its origin in India (Katz, 2007). Therefore, Euryopeans accredited the numerals to the Arabs, although they were referred to as Hindu numerals. The modern numbers also referred to as Hindu-Arabic numbers are a blend of just ten digits or symbols namely: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0. The introduction of these digits was done in the twelfth century by an Italian mathematician, Leonardo Pisano also known as Fibonacci. This mathematician obtained his education in North Africa where he learned and later transferred to Italy the commonly known as Hindu-Arabic numerals.
The initial Western utilization of these digits without the inclusion of zero was in the fifth century by a Roman writer known as Beothius. In one of the geometry books, he explains the operation of abacus by use of marked small cones rather than pebbles. In these cones, there was a drawing of the nine Hindu-Arabic numerals and were referred to as apices; hence the early digit representation in Europe was referred to as apices. The different apex had individual name 1(Igin), 2(Andras), 3(Ormis), 4(Arbas), 5(Quimas), 6 (Caltis), 7(Zenis), 8(Temenisa), and 9 (Celentis). These names’ etymology is still not clear although some of them had an Arabic origin. The Hindu-Arabic like numerals which Beothius reported were reproduced almost in all regions with extreme fantasy. Prior to the adoption of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, people were using Roman figures which in real sense are a legacy of the period of Etruscan. The numeration in Roman was based on biquinary system.
The invention of the decimal Hindu-Arabic numeral system was done in India approximately 500 CE. This system was revolutionary as it was including zero together with positional notation. It is taken to be a crucial landmark in mathematics development. This positional system may be distinguished, as it is identical all through the family together with the particular glyphs used in writing these numerals which change from one region to another. The glyphs universally used together with the Latin alphabet are 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (Kaplan, 2000).
The 0-9 digits used today were developed from Arabic-Hindu numerals system. This system was named so following their development via various Indian and Middle Eastern language systems. Originally they came from Sanskrit and Brahmi, developing into Western and Eastern Arabic forms and were utilized in Europe from 11th century and later. The cipher and zero were named after zephirum an Arabic word.
Place value system
The Hindu numeral system is a pure place-value system that utilizes ten numerals and this explains the essence of zero. In the Indo-European civilization, only the Hindus have used zero consistently. However, the Arabs played a crucial role in propagating the numeral system. It is only a single digit that may be placed in a certain place value position. The place value of a certain column is ten times greater as compared to the place value of the column to its right. Place value systems are crucial since through them common arithmetic functions are made more efficient. In the manipulation of spatial symbols, a method that is consistent, simple, and symmetrical is needed so that numbers can be lined up visually and rapidly grouped at a glance in accordance to their value. If there were no place values of decimal system, simple arithmetic functions of division, multiplication, subtraction and addition will be incredibly difficult as they are overly complex, time consuming and prone to error. The Roman numeral system does not have an efficient way of representing place, and it makes uncomplicated arithmetic functions very hard to execute for many individuals. In addition, the place-value system helps computers to perform electronic computations at extremely high speed. Computers use place value systems known as binary number system which uses a base 2 system. This system usually has two values. Following the simplicity of the numbers, they can be processed by computers electronically at an amazing speed.
The Greek Translation and the House of Wisdom
Initially, the Middle Ages Europeans attributed this system of numerals totally to be linked to Arabs; however, this later came out to be imprecise. This is because it appeared to scholars in Europe together with Historians to be stemming from a specific source, which was the Baghdad’s House of Wisdom. This learning center was established by al-Mamun who was the 8th century ruler, and was equivalent to the great learning centers in ancient Greece’s Alexandria.
Most importantly, this school was aimed at translating philosophical and mathematical texts which had been written in other languages at that moment. These comprised of great works by Brahmagupta and the Greek thinkers’ texts like Euclid and Aristotle. Euclid’s works translation, which had been authored approximately 300 BCE, was specifically essential for mathematics in the present times. Among his texts like, The division of figures, did not thrive in the initial Greek; therefore, they would not be known to us, except for the translation movement based in Baghdad (Ifrah, 1999).
The most crucial work by Euclid was the Elements book. This can today be taken to be the most essential textbook in mathematics to have ever been written. Actually, it is thought to comprise little entirely original work; however, the author states out in it plainly the most convoluted ideas of mathematics in the contemporary society; this is what has ensured the long stay of the book.
Al-Kwowarizmi and algebra development
Al-Kwowarizmi was the most significant mathematician who worked in Baghdad and he died around 850 CE. It is following his works that the Arabic-Hindu numeral system came to be thought of as innovation of entirely Arabs. As a matter of fact, the 0-9 numbers were for some time referred to as algorism, which was named after the name of Al-Kwowarizmi and is of course related to English term algorithm which implies a series of numerical instructions.
Together with Diophantus, a Greek mathematician, Al-Kwowarizmi can be accredited to be the father of algebra. His influence is informed from a text by the name Al-jabr wa’l muqabalah, which deals with many algebraic problems. Among other things, the books deal with equations which involve general mathematical problems, the squares of numbers and the square root.
The real meaning of the words in the title, Al-jabr wa’l muqabalah, is still under dispute in the current society. Generally, it is thought that the initial part, al-jabr, implies restoration with the second part, wa’l muqabalah, implying balancing – the two terms refer to balancing of two sides of an equation. However, in the contemporary mathematics, al-jabr has taken on an entirely unlike meaning which is rather broad: algebra (Eves, 1983).
Hindu-Arabic numerals in Europe
Particularly, three figures helped in bringing Hindu-Arabic numerals into use in Europe prior to dark ages: the most famous, the Italian Leonardo of Pisa today known as Fibonacci; an English schoolmaster called John of Halifax and the Frenchman Alexandre de Villedieu. Fibonacci who passed away in 1250 CE, was born of a merchant, and travelled extensively through Greece, Syria, and Egypt. Fibonacci’ s father had assigned him a Muslim teacher and due to this he became proficient in Arabic-Hindu numeral system, together with the works of al-Khowarizmi and his precursors. Today, he is best known for his work the Book of Abacus or the Liber Abaci, referring to a discourse of methods of algebra (Katz, 2007). This is crucial for us today as it showed the mathematicians in Europe the essence of using 0-9 system; it was using simple digits in solving problems of the time which were incredibly advanced.
The most eminent part of the book today, is not actually about fractions, rather it is a question rabbits and it states, ‘how many rabbit pairs will be produced in a year, starting with a single pair, suppose that in every month a pair is produced by the new pair which becomes productive in the second month after its birth? Written in today’s algebra, this problem can be answered as:
un=un-1+un-2. Written successively in direct digits, this formula would result to: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21; this is in English referred to as Fibonacci sequence. In this sequence, each number is the sum of the last two numbers. The Fibonacci sequence was discovered in earlier texts than the Book of Abacus, its factual origin has remained uncertain. This number sequence has aided mathematicians together with scientists in understanding different things; these comprise of leaves’ patterning, organic growth, as well as scientific prediction of outcomes. Nonetheless, it may not appear like so. It has had influence on renowned mathematicians of the last five centuries like Kepler, Cardano, and Paccioli.
The acceptance of the Arabic numerals by the European was accelerated by the print press invention and they became extensively recognized in the 15th century. Among the evidence of their early use in Britain comprise of a quadrant of equal hour hororay from 1397 in England, an inscription in 1446 on the Heathfield church tower in Sussex, a 1448 inscription in Bray Church on a wooden lych gate, a belfry door inscription in Piddletrenthide church, Dorset and a tomb inscription in 1470. In Europe, Ladislaus the Posthumous, the King of Hungary, began using Arabic numerals which were seen initially in 1456 in a royal document, by the mid 16th century, their usage was very widespread in Europe (Kaplan, 2000). The numerals were still been used for the Anno Domini notation, as well as in clock face numbers. In some occasions, Roman numerals are used for enumeration purposes, for differentiation of family members or monarchs, for sequential volumes.
Conclusion
Hindu numerals or Arabic numerals or Hindu Arabic numerals are the ten digits namely, 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. These numerals are believed to have descended from the Hindu Arabic numeral system which was established by Indian mathematicians, whereby numeral sequence like 834 is known to be a whole number. These Indian numerals were taken on by Persian mathematicians who resided in India and then passed it on to Arabs in the Western region. In the Middle Ages, they were transmitted to Europe. Arabic numerals use spread in different parts of the world through European trade, colonialism and through books. Currently, they are the commonest symbolic representation of the numbers globally. This system has been used by mathematicians and scientists in their work such that one would wonder what would have been the case if they were not available.
References
Burnett, C. (2006). The Semantics of Indian Numerals in Arabic, Greek and Latin, Journal of Indian Philosophy, (Springer-Netherlands) 34 (1–2): 15–30
Eves, H. (1983). An Introduction to the History of Mathematics. Saunders.
Ifrah, G. (1999). The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer, Wiley.
Kaplan, R., (2000). The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Katz, V.J., (2007). The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
