Arabic numerals (also called Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals) are the most common form set of symbols used to represent numbers are considered one of the most significant developments in mathematics. Mathematics, often abbreviated maths in Commonwealth English and math in American English, is the study of abstraction. ...

History

What we know as "Arabic numerals" were not invented by the Arabs. Instead, they were developed in India by the Hindus around 400 BC. However, because it was the Arabs who transmitted this system to the West, the numeral system became known as "Arabic". The Arabs themselves call the numerals they use “Indian numerals”, أرقام هندية, arqam hindiyyah) For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 405 BC 404 BC 403 BC 402 BC 401 BC - 400 BC - 399 BC 398 BC...

Hindu numerals in the first century AD.

The first inscriptions using 0 in India have been traced to approximately 400 AD. Aryabhata's numerical code also represents a full knowledge of the zero symbol. By the time of Bhaskara I (i.e., the seventh century AD) a base 10 numeral system with 9 symbols was widely used in India, and the concept of zero (represented by a dot) was known (see the Vāsavadattā of Subandhu, or the definition by Brahmagupta). It is possible, however, that the invention of the zero sign took place sometime in the first century when the Buddhist philosophy of shunyata (zero-ness) gained ascendancy. Aryabhata (आर्यभट) (Āryabhaṭa) is the first of the great astronomers of the classical age of India. ... Bhaskara I, 7th century Indian mathematician, gave a unique and remarkable rational approximation of the sine function in his commentary on Aryabhatas work. ... Subandu was the first person to use the concept of a number zero. ... Brahmagupta (ब्रह्मगुप्त) (598_668) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. ...

How the numbers came to the Arabs can be read in the work of al-Qifti's "Chronology of the scholars", which was written around the end the 12th century but quoted earlier sources(see [1]):-

... a person from India presented himself before the Caliph al-Mansur in the year 776 CE who was well versed in the siddhanta method of calculation related to the movment of the heavenly bodies, and having ways of calculating equations based on the half-chord [essentially the sine] calculated in half-degrees ... Al-Mansur ordered this book to be translated into Arabic, and a work to be written, based on the translation, to give the Arabs a solid base for calculating the movements of the planets ...

This book, which the Indianian scholar presented from, was likely Brahmasphutasiddhanta (The Opening of the Universe) which was written in 628 CE by the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta and had used the Hindi Numerals with the zero sign. Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... This article is about the Abbasid Caliph Al Mansur of Baghdad. ... Brahmagupta (ब्रह्मगुप्त) (598_668) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. ...

The numeral system came to be known to both, the Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, whose book On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals written about 825, and the Arab mathematician Al-Kindi, who wrote four volumes (see [2]) "On the Use of the Indian Numerals" (Ketab fi Isti'mal al-'Adad al-Hindi) about 830, are principally responsible for the diffusion of the Indian system of numeration in the Middle-East and the West . In the tenth century AD, Middle-Eastern mathematicians extended the decimal numeral system to include fractions, as recorded in a treatise by Syrian mathematician Abu'l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi in 952-3. Persia or Persian most often refer to: Persia The Persians, an ethnic group, also called Tajiks Persian language Persian (Pokémon) See also Iranian, Iranian peoples, Iranian languages and Aryan. ... Soviet postage stamp commemorating the 1200th anniversary of Muhammad al‑Khwarizmi in 1983. ... Arab (disambiguation). ... Abū-Yūsuf Ya’qūb ibn Ishāq al-Kindī (c. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Abul Hasan Ahmad ibn Ibrahim Al-Uqlidisi was an Arab mathematician, possibly from Damascus He wrote the earliest surviving book on the Hindu place-value system, known in the west as Arabic numerals, around 952. ...

Fibonacci, an Italian mathematician who had studied in Bejaia (Bougie), Algeria, promoted the Arabic numeral system in Europe with his book Liber Abaci, which was published in 1202. The system did not come into wide use in Europe, however, until the invention of printing (See, for example, the 1482 Ptolemaeus map of the world (http://bell.lib.umn.edu/map/PTO/TOUR/1482u.html) printed by Lienhart Holle in Ulm, and other examples in the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany.) Drawing of Leonardo Pisano Leonardo of Pisa or Leonardo Pisano (c. ... Bejaïa is a port in Béjaïa province, Algeria. ... The name Bougie originally comes from France. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Liber Abaci (1202) is an historic book on arithmetic by Leonardo of Pisa, known later by his nickname Fibonacci. ... Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (circa 1398 - February 3, 1468), a German metal-worker and inventor, achieved fame for his contributions to the technology of printing during about the 1450s, including a type metal alloy and oil-based inks, a mold for casting type accurately, and a new kind... Map of Germany showing Mainz Mainz (French Mayence) is a city in Germany, which is the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ...

It should be noted that in the Arab World—until modern times—the Arabic numeral system was used only by mathematicians. Muslim scientists used the Babylonian numeral system, and merchants used a numeral system similar to the Greek numeral system and the Hebrew numeral system. Therefore, it was not until Fibonacci that the Arabic numeral system was used by a large population. Greek numerals are a system of representing numbers using letters of the Greek alphabet. ... The system of Hebrew numerals is a quasi-decimal alphabetic numeral system using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. ...

Description

The Arabic numeral system is a positional base 10 numeral system with 10 distinct symbols representing the 10 numerical digits. The leftmost digit of a number has the greatest value. In a more developed form, the Arabic numeral system also uses a decimal marker (at first a mark over the ones digit but now more usually a decimal point or a decimal comma which separates the ones place from the tenths place), and also a symbol for “these digits repeat ad infinitum” (recur). In modern usage, this latter symbol is usually a vinculum (a horizontal line placed over the repeating digits); the need for it can be removed by representing fractions as simple ratios with a division sign, but this obviates many of Arabic numbers’ more obvious advantages, such as the ability to immediately determine which of two numbers is greater. Historically, however, there has been much variation. In this more developed form, the Arabic numeral system can symbolize any rational number using only 13 symbols (the ten digits, decimal marker, vinculum or division sign, and an optional prepended dash to indicate a negative number). Positional notation is a system in which each position has a value represented by a unique symbol or character. ... Decimal, or denary, notation is the most common way of writing the base 10 numeral system, which uses various symbols for ten distinct quantities (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, called digits) together with the decimal point and the sign symbols + (plus) and − (minus) to... A numeral is a symbol or group of symbols that represents a number. ... In mathematics and computer science, a numerical digit is a symbol, e. ... The decimal separator is used to mark the boundary between the integer and the fractional parts of a decimal numeral. ... Ad infinitum is a Latin phrase meaning to infinity. ... A vinculum is a horizontal line placed over a mathematical expression, used to indicate that it is to be considered a group. ... This article is about the arithmetic operation. ... In mathematics, a rational number (or informally fraction) is a ratio of two integers, usually written as the vulgar fraction a/b, where b is not zero. ... The Digital Audio Stationary Head or DASH standard was a digital audio tape format using open reels capable of recording 8, 16, 24 or more channels of audio on a one-inch or half-inch tape. ... A negative number is a number that is less than zero, such as −3. ...

It is interesting to note that, like in many numbering systems, the numbers 1, 2, and 3 represent simple tally marks. 1 being a single line 2 being two lines (now connected by a diagonal) and 3 being three lines (now connected by two vertical lines). After three numbers tend to become more complex symbols (examples are the Chinese/Japanese numbers and Roman numerals). Theorists believe that this is because it becomes difficult to instantaneously count objects past three. The system of Roman numerals is a numeral system originating in ancient Rome, and was adapted from Etruscan numerals. ...

The Arabic numeral system has used many different sets of symbols. These symbol sets can be divided into two main families—namely the West Arabic numerals, and the East Arabic numerals. East Arabic numerals—which were developed primarily in what is now Iraq—are shown in the table below as Arabic-Indic. East Arabic-Indic is a variety of East Arabic numerals. West Arabic numerals—which were developed in al-Andalus and the Maghreb—are shown in the table, labelled European. (There are two typographic styles for rendering European numerals, known as lining figures and text figures). Al-Andalus is the Arabic name given the Iberian Peninsula by its Muslim conquerors; it refers to both the Caliphate proper and the general period of Muslim rule (711–1492). ... (see also North Africa, Tamazgha, Arab Maghreb Union, Mashreq) The Maghreb (or Moghreb), meaning west in Arabic, is the region of the continent of Africa north of the Sahara desert and west of the Nile - specifically, the modern countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and to a lesser extent Libya and... Typographic work Typography (from the Greek words typos = form and grapho = write) is the art and technique of selecting and arranging type styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing for typeset applications. ... Hoefler Text, a contemporary font, uses text figures. ...

If your browser does not have all required fonts, this table might be rendered incorrectly. In that case, look at this graphic. Subject: Arabic numerals Source: Screenshot of the above Wikipedia article. ...

In Japan, Arabic numerals and the Roman alphabet are both used under the name of rōmaji. So, if a number is written in Arabic numerals, they would say “it is written in rōmaji” (as opposed to Japanese numerals). This translates as ‘Roman characters’, and may sound confusing for those who know about Roman numerals. An alphabet is a complete standardized set of letters—basic written symbols—each of which roughly represents a phoneme of a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it may have been in the past. ... Rōmaji (ローマ字 characters of Rome, frequently misspelled romanji in English), is a Japanese term for the Latin alphabet. ... Basic numbering in Japanese The system of Japanese numerals is the system of number names used in the Japanese language. ... The system of Roman numerals is a numeral system originating in ancient Rome, and was adapted from Etruscan numerals. ...

External links

• Unicode reference charts (http://www.unicode.org/charts/):
  • Arabic  (http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0600.pdf) (See codes U+0660-U+0669, U+06F0-U+06F9)
  • Devanagari  (http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0900.pdf) (See codes U+0966-U+096F)
  • Tamil (http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0B80.pdf) (See codes U+0BE6-U+0BEF)

• History of the Numerals
  • The Evolution of Numbers (http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2003/06/01-95210802.html)
  • Indian numerals (http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/%7Ehistory/HistTopics/Indian_numerals.html):
  • Arabic numerals (http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/%7Ehistory/HistTopics/Arabic_numerals.html):
  • Hindu-Arabic numerals (http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/university/scit/modules/mm2217/han.htm):

• Learn Arabic Online - Numerals page (http://st-takla.org/Learn_Languages/01_Learn_Arabic-ta3leem-3araby/Learn-Arabic_01-Alphabet_El-Abgadeya.html) at http://St-Takla.org

• [1] http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Arabic_numerals.html - The Arabic numeral system by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson]

• [2] http://www.levity.com/alchemy/islam13.html