Mathematics, science, and engineering are built upon the digit zero.
I have not heard of another number that is as debatable and uplifting as this powerful digit. Above all, this number allows us to predict the future. However, to understand this and see the power of zero, one must first know its birth and the struggles it endured. It was not easy for zero to achieve this power.
As a concept, zero has existed since ancient times. Zero, appearing in Babylonian tablets and Maya inscriptions, was used in calculations related to the flow of seasons back then.
Ancient scholars used zero to indicate the absence of a number, just as we use it when saying 101 to show that there is no value in the tens place.
Originating in India
However, it took two thousand years for zero to be accepted as a normal number with all mathematical capacities. And this happened in India.
Mathematics writer Alex Bellos says that India had favorable conditions for this task. "The idea that nothing can be something already had a deep-rooted place in their culture. For example, 'nirvana' is a state of nothingness; you are free from all worries and desires. So why not have a symbol representing nothingness?"
This symbol was called 'shunya.' Today, this word is used both as a concept meaning nothing and as a number meaning zero.
The term zero symbolized the void in a way, and I used to perceive the zero's circle as a hole representing nothing. However, Hindu mysticism interprets this circularity as the 'cycle of immortality' or, in other words, the 'fold of immortality.'
Astronomer Brahmagupta was the person who facilitated the rise of zero in India in the 7th century. In mathematics, 'shunya' was not only used to show that there was nothing in any place but also utilized in calculations like other numbers. You could add, subtract, and multiply it. Division was a bit problematic, but as we will see later, this led to the opening of another magnificent area in mathematics.
After establishing itself in South Asia, zero moved on to the Middle East. Scholars in the Islamic world embraced zero and contributed to forming the Arabic numeral system we use today. (Some historians suggest calling this numeral system the Indo-Arabic system to emphasize the importance of zero's origin in India.)
Despite this incredible spiritual and intellectual beginning, zero faced challenges. In a period when Christianity launched the Crusades against Islam, causing widespread suspicion and distrust of Arab ideas, even in mathematics, zero made its way to Europe.
In 1299, in Florence, zero, along with all other Arabic numerals, was banned. The reason was that zero was easily converted to nine, and fraud could be committed by inflating prices by adding a few zeros to the end of numbers.
Moreover, zero was seen as dangerous because it paved the way for negative numbers. Negative numbers legitimized the concepts of borrowing and lending.
Finally, it took until the 15th century for zero to be accepted along with all other Arabic numerals. During that time, Oxford University in England had been an educational institution for centuries, and the printing press had just been established.
Both of these factors helped zero develop as a mathematical idea, and they contributed to many scientific and technological methods we still use today.
Triggering the Renaissance
By the 17th century, zero formed the basis of the Cartesian coordinate system invented by the French philosopher Descartes (the x and y graphs taught in school). We still use this system in many fields, from engineering to computer graphics, today.
As Bellos aptly puts it, "The Renaissance actually began with the arrival of the Arabic numeral system, which includes zero. Thus, the black-and-white world of arithmetic suddenly burst into magnificent colors."
However, during the Renaissance, zero had gained so much power that it led to new ambitions. Let's get back to the issue of dividing by zero. The idea of dividing zero by zero forms the basis of calculus. Calculus represents change in mathematics and allows predictions to be made about future possibilities. The graph of something changing over time can be drawn, and trends can be seen, leading to predictions about the future.
Calculus describes the change that anything undergoes over time, from the course of the stock market to drug distribution in the body... None of these would be possible without the concept of zero as a number.
Therefore, we must give this empty but powerful circle the value it deserves in history and today.