How We Discovered the Number Zero

Zero as a concept was something that didn’t always exist in human cultures. We had to find it for ourselves — more than once.

By Nathaniel Scharping
Jan 9, 2021 4:00 PMFeb 2, 2021 4:41 PM
urban number zero 0 concept - shutterstock
(Credit: Maxim Skripka/Shutterstock)

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

Of all the numbers that exist, there’s something special about zero. We can find real-world examples of other numbers, be it $1, 99 red balloons, 100 years of solitude or any other thing we care to tabulate. But it’s difficult to find examples of nothingness — even the supposed vacuum of space is disturbed by faint gusts of hydrogen atoms.

Perhaps that’s why zero is a fairly recent invention. While it popped up in different forms in various places, the concept of nothing as a number is just a few thousand years old, at the most. And sometimes it never seems to have existed at all. Both the Egyptians and Romans didn’t appear to use zero.

Nonetheless, zero is quite important to us today. The concept plays a foundational role in calculus, as we calculate derivatives converging upon zero. It’s also used in coordinate systems on graphs, which begin at the point (0, 0).

0 free articles left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

0 free articlesSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

Stay Curious

Sign up for our weekly newsletter and unlock one more article for free.

 

View our Privacy Policy


Want more?
Keep reading for as low as $1.99!


Log In or Register

Already a subscriber?
Find my Subscription

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Shop Now
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2023 Kalmbach Media Co.