Numbers who invented them

Who invented numbers? Which famous mathematicians helped to develop numbers? What impact did numbers have on developing societies? Wonder What's Next? Try It Out Are you ready to count? Don't forget to check out the following activities with a friend or family member: Can you believe that some of the oldest evidence of numbers was found on a bone? Jump online to check out the Mathematical Treasure: Ishango Bone page to learn more about this interesting artifact.

If you had found this bone, would you have had any idea what it showed and how important it was? Do you rely heavily on numbers on a daily basis? You might be surprised! Try going as long as you possibly can without using any numbers. That means no television, since you need numbers to choose the proper channel. You also can't throw a snack in the microwave, since you'd need numbers to program it to cook for a certain amount of time. How else do numbers come up?

Once you start thinking about it, you'll be amazed at how interwoven numbers are in your daily life! You're familiar with the normal base number system that uses , but did you realize there are a variety of other number systems out there, such as base-8, base-2, and even base? Check out Number Systems online to learn how these other interesting number systems work! Did you get it? Test your knowledge. What are you wondering? Wonder Words idea safe simple society explain baboon mystery imagine highlight occurred evidence advances civilizations importance calculations mathematics development technological Take the Wonder Word Challenge.

Join the Discussion. Sophia Mar 11, Mar 9, Thank you! You're full of fun compliments today. MLG Jan 14, If I is read is story, and is no find out who is make 1 2 3 then Who is make 1 2 3?

Hi, wonderopolis! I loved this article and the demonstration of numbers! Nov 11, Mar 21, Lucas Mar 5, Mar 5, Feb 25, Ana B Feb 22, I think that you should do a wonder on Roman numerals! Feb 24, Edgar Watson Feb 4, Feb 5, Max Dec 10, Mia G Nov 20, Dec 5, Great question!

We'd love to hear what you discover as you research this question, Mia G! Romeo Nov 9, Mitchell Ork Oct 29, Sep 30, Aug 6, Jun 4, Raynel May 22, Hey wonderopolis can you tell me how numbers were made. May 23, Corvo May 14, May 21, Max Apr 13, Hi Wonderopolis!

Just want to say Good Job and keep up what you're doing! Apr 17, Thanks, Max! Bethany Mar 13, Bella Courts Feb 25, That's super cool, Bella! Mar 15, However, recent carbon dating has revealed that it was probably written in the third or fourth century, which pushes the earliest recorded use of zero back years. Marcus du Sautoy, a professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, said, "Today we take it for granted that the concept of zero is used across the globe and is a key building block of the digital world.

But the creation of zero as a number in its own right, which evolved from the placeholder dot symbol found in the Bakhshali manuscript, was one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of mathematics.

The findings show how vibrant mathematics have been in the Indian sub-continent for centuries. Over the next few centuries, the concept of zero caught on in China and the Middle East. According to Nils-Bertil Wallin of YaleGlobal , by , zero reached Baghdad where it became part of the Arabic number system, which is based upon the Indian system. A Persian mathematician, Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi, suggested that a little circle should be used in calculations if no number appeared in the tens place.

The Arabs called this circle "sifr," or "empty. Al-Khowarizmi also developed quick methods for multiplying and dividing numbers, which are known as algorithms — a corruption of his name. Zero found its way to Europe through the Moorish conquest of Spain and was further developed by Italian mathematician Fibonacci, who used it to do equations without an abacus, then the most prevalent tool for doing arithmetic. This development was highly popular among merchants, who used Fibonacci's equations involving zero to balance their books.

Medieval religious leaders in Europe did not support the use of zero, van der Hoek said. They saw it as satanic. Everything that was not was of the devil," she said. Instead of having a pouch filled with five cones with five marks written on the outside of the pouch, why not just write those five marks on a clay tablet and do away with the cones altogether?

This is exactly what happened. This development of keeping track on clay tablets had ramifications beyond arithmetic, for with it, the idea of writing was also born. To prevent this from happening, the Sumerians needed an official method of keeping track, and an official group of people who kept track.

A select few were allowed to enter this group. It was the Egyptians who transformed the number one from a unit of counting things to a unit of measuring things. In Egypt, around 3, BC, the number one became used as a unit of measurement to measure length.

What they invented was the cubit, which they considered to be a sacred measurement. Considered sacred as they were, they had officially ordained sticks which they kept in the temples. If copy cubits were needed they were made from one of the original cubits kept in the temple. Thanks to this very official, very guarded and very precise unit of measurement the Egyptians were able to create colossal buildings and monuments with wondrous accuracy. The Egyptians were the first civilization to invent different symbols for different numbers.

They had a symbol for one, which was just a line. The symbol for ten was a rope. The symbol for a hundred was a coil of rope. They also had numbers for a thousand and ten thousand.

The Egyptians were the first to dream up the number one million, and its symbol was a prisoner begging for forgiveness, which was a person on its knees, hands upraised in the air, in a posture of humility. Greece made further contributions to the world of numbers and counting, much of it under the guidance of Pythagoras.

He studied in Egypt and upon returning to Greece established a school of math, introducing Greece to mathematical concepts already prevalent in Egypt. Pythagoras was the first man to come up with the idea of odd and even numbers. To him, the odd numbers were male; the evens were female. He is most famous for his Pythagorean theorem, but perhaps his greatest contribution to math was laying the groundwork for Greek mathematicians who would follow him.

Archimedes is considered to the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the greatest of all time.