These boards were portable and it is thought that Chinese travelers who passed through India took their boards with them and ignited an idea in Indian mathematics. Some suggest that the system has its origins with the Chinese counting boards. Unfortunately, an answer to that question is not currently known. One question to answer is why the Indians would develop such a positional notation. The Seattle Times recently reported that the Hindu-Arabic numeral system has been included in the book The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2000 Years. By 1500 CE, however, the newer symbols and system had won out and has persevered until today. They are in a competition that is being judged by the goddess of number. The other is a Pythagorean philosopher (the “algorist”) using his “sacred” numbers. One is a merchant and is using an abacus (the “abacist”). In a fourteenth century manuscript of Boethius’ The Consolations of Philosophy, there appears a well-known drawing of two mathematicians. ![]() Competition between the two groups arose and continued for quite some time. The former might often use older systems while the latter were inclined to use the newer, more elite written numbers. In many societies, a division formed between those who used numbers and calculation for practical, every day business and those who used them for ritualistic purposes or for state business. It is found in a tenth-century Spanish manuscript and may have been introduced to Spain by the Arabs, who invaded the region in 711 CE and were there until 1492. Traders and travelers of the Mediterranean coast may have carried it there. It is not completely known how the system got transmitted to Europe. Accordingly there can be no error in determining the place. Thus the numeral is always denoted in each place. In each vacant place a dot is always put. When a number is counted to ten, it is advanced into the higher place. Using the numerals, multiplication and division are carried out. The author of this document gives a strikingly clear description of how the Indian system works: The dot as a symbol for zero also appears in a Chinese work ( Chiu -chih li). The 608th year uses three digits with a modern 0 in the middle. In 683, the 605th year of the Saka era is written with three digits and a dot in the middle. Interestingly, the earliest dated inscriptions using the system with a symbol for zero come from Cambodia. Numerous documents from the seventh century demonstrate the use of this positional system. Wherever it may have originated, it appears that around 600 CE, the Indians abandoned the use of symbols for numbers higher than nine and began to use our familiar system where the position of the symbol determines its overall value. Some believe that the positional system used in India was derived from the Chinese system. Also, the Chinese had a base-10 system, probably derived from the use of a counting board. However, there is not much evidence that the Babylonian system had much impact on later numeral systems, except with the Greeks. The Babylonians (as we will see in Chapter 3) used a positional system with 60 as their base. ![]() The Indians were not the first to use a positional system. Use two different methods for converting numbers between bases.Identify bases that have been used in number systems historically. ![]() Become familiar with the history of positional number systems.
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