Do you have a mathematics teacher who writes a big fat zero that occupies the entire blackboard whenever an answer boils down to it? None of us wish to see it on our answer sheets (unless, of course, it is for 100). but zero fascinates and frustrates maths lovers and haters in equal measures. Even though civilisations have always understood the concept of nothing or having nothing. India is generally credited with developing the numerical zero. It is hard for us to imagine a world without zero, and it is no wonder therefore that giving zero a symbol is seen as one of the greatest innovations in human history. Without this zero, modem mathematics, physics and technology would all probably zero down to nothing! The philosophy of emptiness or shunya (shunya is zero in Sanskrit) is believed to have been an important cultural factor for the development of zero in India. The concept is said to have been fully developed by the 5th Century. and maybe even earlier.
The Bakhshali manuscript, discovered in a field in 1881, is currently seen as the earliest recorded use of a symbol for zero. Dating techniques place this manuscript to be written anywhere between the 3rd and 9th Century.
Picture Credit : Google