About From 0 to 9 - The mysterious origins of our numbers
Why do people in Europe refer to them as "Arabic numerals" when they were invented in India? How could ten tiny symbols conquer the world? And how did zero change the course of history? The Western world calls them "Arabic numerals," while in the Arab world, today's European notation is thought of as being Western. What is "Arabic" about the symbols that traveled from India to Europe and on to the rest of the world? Following the trail of our numbers leads us to Baghdad. There, in the eighth century, a scholar named al-Khwarizmi — Latinized as "Algorismi," later to be found in the word "algorithm" — helped spread Indian numerals. He would become known as the father of modern algebra. The "Arabic" numerals commonly used in Europe today derive from another variant, known as "Ghubar" — Arabic for "dust." That had emerged from the so-called "dust tables" used by Maghrebi merchants around the Mediterranean. From Europe to America, and from the dawn of modern science to the computer age — the fascinating history of these ten small digits is
From 0 to 9 - The mysterious origins of our numbers is presented by DW Documentary. Its listed runtime is 52 minutes. The source link and publisher attribution are provided with the embedded film.
As a society documentary, From 0 to 9 - The mysterious origins of our numbers uses mysterious, origins, numbers as its central frame. Social documentaries work best as invitations to examine systems through lived experience. Distinguish individual testimony from wider claims, and consider which institutions, incentives and inequalities shape the choices shown.
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Documentary details and original source
- Title
- From 0 to 9 - The mysterious origins of our numbers
- Category
- Society
- Runtime
- 52 minutes
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- DW Documentary
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