Higher Arithmetic

The universal notation among civilized nations at the present time is the Hindu or Arabic, the symbols of which, except the zero, originated in India before the beginning of the Christian era, and seem to have been the initial letters of the early numerals. The system derives its intrinsic importance, however, from the zero, which renders possible the distinctive feature known as place value. Thus, in the number 302, the 3 stands for hundreds because it is in hundreds' place, a fact which could not be conveniently indicated without the symbol 0 or its equivalent. The zero ' appeared about the fifth century a.d., and somewhat later the Arabs, coming from the East after the conquest of Spain, brought the new system with them. About the year 1200 these Hindu numerals began to be known in Christian Europe, but it was not until the fifteenth century that they were generally taught and used. The decimal point appeared about the opening of the seventeenth century, and through its influence Ta