First Zero Ever Written? Scientists Argue Over Ancient Indian Math Symbols
By Elana Glowatz @ElanaGlow On 10/26/17 AT 2:14 PM
Researchers are challenging a claim that an ancient Indian mathematical document contains the oldest recorded use of a zero.
The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University announced last month that experts recently dated the Bakhshali manuscript to as early as 200 BCE and, because it is full of symbols that signify the number zero, said it represents the earliest known use of that number. The next recorded use occurred about 500 years after the alleged date of the manuscript. But a group of historians specializing in Indian mathematics are challenging this discovery. According to a statement from the University of Alberta, the calculations would have been written much later than asserted.
http://www.ibtimes.com/first-zero-ever-written-scientists-argue-over-ancient-indian-math-symbols-2606714
