# Who invented the concept of zero? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-the-concept-of-zero/373073 "2006-09-17T15:50:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-the-concept-of-zero/373073/21 "2006-09-18T17:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Assuming the two groups are far enough apart (for example the Babylonians and the Mayans) you’d have to say they _both_ invented it, seperately. It’s not like Babylonians moved to South America much. [/QUOTE] In short, you’re saying they have Nothing in common. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-the-concept-of-zero/373073/22 "2006-09-18T21:11:30Z")
I took a Hist of Science course in college where it was taught that the Arabs are credited with giving us a numeric value (or place holder) for zero. It is the only true Arabic number. Sorry, I don’t have a cite. You’ll have to ask my college professor (of x years ago) for his source. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-the-concept-of-zero/373073/23 "2006-09-18T23:36:32Z")
[QUOTE=Jinx] I took a Hist of Science course in college where it was taught that the Arabs are credited with giving us a numeric value (or place holder) for zero. It is the only true Arabic number. Sorry, I don’t have a cite. You’ll have to ask my college professor (of x years ago) for his source. 😉 [/QUOTE] Not the truth, not even close to it. You may wish to go back and relearn it. 😉 The placeholder, as I noted above, existed with the Babylonians. Ptolemy the astronomer used “o” for it. The Indian mathemeticians developed the concept of “zero” the number, and eventually the small circle was adopted for that use. The Arabian mathemeticians adopted and used this extensively; Fibonacci became acquainted with it in his father’s trading post in North Africa around 1200. He introduced it to Europe, where it met with considerable resistance. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-the-concept-of-zero/373073/24 "2006-09-22T17:28:33Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Are they the only ones that have even visited them, though? I’m inclined to think that the observations that have been made of their language are probably wrong or at very least questionable and overblown. But the Tasaday were, if I remember right, ordinary locals dressed in funny costumes to put on a fraud for the National Geographic photographers. I’m not saying I think the information that’s been shared about the Pirahã is correct - just that I doubt it’s a mistake or fraud of that incredible magnitude. [/QUOTE] [continuing hijack] The Tasaday case doesn’t seem to be as clear cut as you put [it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasaday#Press.2C_hoax_claims_and_debunking_the_hoax) Both Wikipedia and the Tasaday [site](http://www.tasaday.com/) seem to talk about the hoax and the “debunking” of the hoax. [/continuing hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-the-concept-of-zero/373073/25 "2006-09-22T17:34:38Z")
[QUOTE=DiggitCamara] [continuing hijack] The Tasaday case doesn’t seem to be as clear cut as you put [it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasaday#Press.2C_hoax_claims_and_debunking_the_hoax) Both Wikipedia and the Tasaday [site](http://www.tasaday.com/) seem to talk about the hoax and the “debunking” of the hoax. [/continuing hijack] [/QUOTE] Yeah, check this [super awesome thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=388621) I started on the topic. It turns out there was a bit too much made of them, but they weren’t an entirely fictional group as I had come to believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-the-concept-of-zero/373073.md?page=1)