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628 AD: Defining Zero
In 628 AD, the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta, at the age of 30, authored the astronomical and mathematical encyclopedia Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta. He posed the question, 'What remains when a number is subtracted from itself?' and answered with 'śūnya,' meaning 'void' or 'emptiness,' defining it as a number. Along with this, he presented arithmetic rules for positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero, including principles such as 'positive minus positive equals zero' and 'zero multiplied by any number equals zero.'
Why India?
The concept of 'śūnya,' meaning emptiness or void, had been philosophically established early within India's Buddhist and Hindu traditions. This profound idea, that 'absence is presence,' represents a fundamental tenet of Eastern thought. In stark contrast, Western Greek mathematics firmly rejected the notion that 'absence could be considered a number.' This fundamental philosophical difference is precisely why it took approximately 1500 years for the concept of zero to be fully introduced and accepted in the Western world.
Via Arabia to Europe
In the 9th century, the Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi translated the Indian numerals, ranging from 0 to 9, into Arabic. During this process, the term śūnya was rendered as 'sifr' (صفر), which also means 'empty.' By the 12th century, this concept evolved into the Latin 'zephirus,' which then became 'cifra' (the root of the German 'ziffer' and English 'cipher'), eventually leading to the modern word 'zero.' Its widespread adoption in Europe was largely due to Fibonacci, who introduced it through his influential work, Liber Abaci, in 1202.
Zero in Hanja
The Chinese character '零' (yeong), which represents zero, is composed of '雨' (rain) and '令' (command/order). Its etymology suggests 'the appearance of rain scattering and falling,' leading to meanings like 'to scatter' or 'to break apart.' It is no mere coincidence that this Hanja for zero carries the meaning of 'to scatter.' This reflects a profound consistency in Eastern thought, as both the Indian concept of śūnya and the Hanja character '零' similarly point to the delicate 'boundary between existence and non-existence.'
