Weekly magazine “Arguments and Facts” No. 42. Supernumber: 152 answers to questions 20/10/2021
Is it true that Arabic numerals were not invented by Arabs at all? Why are they called that then?
The expert’s answer is 1 + –
Nikolay Shamarov, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, answers:
According to historians, the well-known Arabic numerals came from India. It was there that a positional number system consisting of 10 digits, including 0, arose. The first extant record of a number in the decimal system dates back to 595 A.D. However, these numbers did not look the way we write them now: the Indian astronomer and mathematician Ariabhata, who lived in the VI century, suggested writing them with Sanskrit characters.
Soon the system of writing numbers invented by the Hindus got to the Persians and Arabs, and from them to the Europeans. In the Old World, it began to be widely used from the XIII-XIV centuries. The decisive role in their dissemination was played by the Book of Abacus, written by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci in 1202. He first encountered the numbers in the Algerian city of Bejaya. It is for the reason that they came to Europe from Arab countries that we call them Arab.