Around
the 5th century AD., decimal position arithmetic
appeared in India: it used 10 figures from 0 to 9 such as we know today. In 829
Mohammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (780-850) published a treatise on algebra in
Baghdad in which he adopted this decimal system. A French monk named Gerbert
became interested in the Arabic figures during his voyage (980) to Cordoba in
Spain, and was able to spread the use of these symbols when he became Pope Sylvester
II in April 999. However, it was
not until Leonardo Fibonacci, known as Leonard of Pisa, through his Liber Abaci, written in 1202, that
Arabic numbering began to spread throughout Europe. In 1440, thanks to the
invention of printing, the shape of these 10 figures was definitively fixed. (‘Inventions
and Discoveries’)Sep 9, 2013
Modern Numerations
Around
the 5th century AD., decimal position arithmetic
appeared in India: it used 10 figures from 0 to 9 such as we know today. In 829
Mohammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (780-850) published a treatise on algebra in
Baghdad in which he adopted this decimal system. A French monk named Gerbert
became interested in the Arabic figures during his voyage (980) to Cordoba in
Spain, and was able to spread the use of these symbols when he became Pope Sylvester
II in April 999. However, it was
not until Leonardo Fibonacci, known as Leonard of Pisa, through his Liber Abaci, written in 1202, that
Arabic numbering began to spread throughout Europe. In 1440, thanks to the
invention of printing, the shape of these 10 figures was definitively fixed. (‘Inventions
and Discoveries’)