Download Zero is the Cardinal Number of the Empty Set It`s the most effective

Zero
Zero is the Cardinal Number of the Empty Set
It’s the number of things you have when you don’t have anything
It’s the most effective computing device every invented
Without it we could not distinguish 23 from 20030 or 20300 or 23000 and
arithmetic would be a good deal tougher than it is
And now look at this
Addition 2 + 0 = 2
3+0=3
4 + 0 = 4 and so on
Multiplication 2 1 = 2
3 1=3
4 1 = 4 and so on
0 does the same thing for addition that
1 does for multiplication
Sign in Boston’s Museum of Science
"
!
#$ !
" %!
&! " '
!
( )*
“In 628, in Brahmasphutrasiddhanta, Brahmagupta defined zero as the
result of the subtraction of a number from itself (a – a = 0) and described its
properties in the following terms” (Ifrah p. 439)
“When zero (shûnya) is added to a number or subtracted from a number,
the number remains unchanged; and a number multiplied by zero
becomes zero.”
Moreover using terms like fortune (dhana), debt (rina) to express positive
and negative numbers Brahmagupta wrote
“A debt minus zero is a debt
A fortune minus zero is a fortune
Zero (shûnya) minus zero is nothing (kha)
A debt subtracted from zero is a fortune
So a fortune subtract from zero is a debt
The product of zero multiplied by a debt or a fortune is zero
The product of zero multiplied by itself is nothing.”
Wood-Block Engraving
by Gregorius Reisch
1503
Lady Arithmetic smiling
on the algorist (on the
left) working with
Arabic (Indian) Numbers
#
$
-. /
%& '
+ ,
/ 0 ! '(
)
' ***
%& '
+ ,
-. / / (/ 1
'
(
)
' **+
,
%-'
0/
2& 0
. / / 3 /'
/'. /
'+000
1 % '2
3
4/ 1 / 5
/
'
$ ' ***