NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/soc/culture/arabic/5031

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-20 | 5.3 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Sati Sadhal)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic,soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Arabic(??) Numerals: The Origin (Hindu Numerals)
Date: 20 Nov 1992 11:32:35 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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Keywords: Arabic Numbers, Hindu Numbers

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Suresh Thennarangam - Research Scholar) writes:
>I have followed with some interest a recent discussion of the origin of the
>Arabic numerals in this news-group(soc.culture.arabic).
>
>The decimal number system, widely attributed in the West to be an invention
>of the Arabs actually originated in India. Ancient Indian mathematicians
>invented the concept of "zero" and the decimal number system which was
>probably carried to Arabia by Arab traders who have had trade links with
>India(Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka incl.) since a very long time ago.
>
>Indian historians sincerely believe this and that the Arabic number system
>is so called simply because the West learned of this number system from the
>Arabs.

This is well accepted by Western historians of mathematics, but
certainly not well-publicized. I have the following documentation
to substatiate this:

1. `Childcraft, The How and Why Library' vol 13 (Mathemagic)
    World Book, Inc., page 76
    "... The numerals we use were invented by Hindus in
    India, about two thousand years ago. We don't know
    why the numerals are shaped the way they are, but we
    can make a good guess about 1, 2 and 3. ......

    (page 77) ....The Hindu numerals were adopted by the Arabs.
    When the Arabs conquered Spain, about 1,300 years
    ago, they brought these numerals with them. Because
    the Arabs brought them, they became known as Arabic
    numerals.....

    (page 79)..... We got our number system from the
    Arabs, who got it from the Hindus of India."

2.    `The World Book Encyclopedia' Volume 14
    World Book, Inc.
    Page 617:
    "The Hindu-Arabic numeral system:
    Hindu mathematicians of the 300's and the 200's BC
    used a system based on 10. .....

    ..... During the 700's, the Arabs learned Hindu
    arithmetic from scientific writings of the Hindus
    and the Greeks. Then, in the 800's, a Persian
    mathematician wrote a book that was translated into
    Latin about 300 years later. This translation
    brought the Hindi-Arabic numerals to Europe....

    .... Mathematicians regard the Hindu-Arabic system as
    the world's greatest inventions. Its greatness lies
    in the principle of place value and in the use of zero.
    ........"


    3. `The History of Mathematics: An Introduction'
        by David M. Burton
        Page 269:
        "Although we have referred to our present
        system of numerals as Hindu-Arabic, its
        origins are obscure and much-disputed. The
        most widely accepted theory is that it
        originated in India about the third century
        (this should probably be 3rd Cent., BC -Sadhal),
        was carried to Baghdad in the eighth century,
        and transmitted to Western Europe by way of
        Moorish Spain.

        (page 270).......  How and why these numerals
        first reached the Arabs is a question that has
        never been satisfactorily settled. During
        the early Arab expansion, public decrees were
        written in Greek as well as Arabic, since Greek
        was widely understood in the Near East. The ruling
        Caliph, to promote his own language, passed a law
        in 706 that forbade the use of Greek in favor of
        Arabic, but nonetheless the Greek alphabetic
        system could be used for writing out numbers.
        This indicates that the Hindu symbol had not yet
        penetrated as far as Damascus, the seat of the
        Caliphs. Around 800, the system was definitely
        known to the Arabs. The mathematician, Khowarizmi
        prepared a small book explaining the use of Hindu
        numerals, including the zero as a place holder.
        When this was translated into Latin by Adelard of
        Bath in the 1100s, the NUMERALS WERE INCORRECTLY
        ASSUMED TO BE OF ARABIC ORIGIN"

4. `In Introduction to the History of Mathematics' - 4th Edn.
    by Howard Eves, (Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston)

    Page 19:
    "1-9 The Hindu-Arabic Numeral System
     The Hindu-Arabic numeral system is named after the
    Hindus, who may have invented it, and after the Arabs,
    who transmitted it to Western Europe. The earliest
    preserved examples of our present number symbols are
    found on some stone columns erected in India about
    250 BC by King Asoka. Other early examples in India,
    if correctly interpreted, are found among records
    cut about 100 BC on the walls of a cave near Poona
    and some inscriptions of about 200 AD carved in the
    caves at Nasik."

--------------------------------
The above are verbatim quotes from the references.
The issue, as far as I can see, is completely settled.
The problem is to tell the education system about it.


>
>/Suresh
                -------- Satwindar Singh Sadhal
                     [e-mail]


P.S.: If anybody wishes of have the actual pages of
    my documentation, please send me your address.
    There is other less interesting material that is
    not included in my post.

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