4. HISTORY OF NUMBERS
The Ishango bone, a tally stick from central Africa,
dates from about 20,000 years ago
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5. SUMERIAN/BABYLONIAN NUMBERS
A rudimentary model
of the abacus was
probably in use in
Sumeria from as early
as 2700 - 2300 BCE
And record the
numbers in Clay Tablet.
Starting as early as the
4th millennium BCE.
They began using a
small clay cone to
represent one, a clay
ball for ten, and a large
one for sixty.
Clay Tablet
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ABACUS
6. The number 60 was
represented by the same
symbol as the number 1.
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SUMERIAN/BABYLONIAN NUMBERS
Babylonian mathematics was
based on a sexegesimal, or
base 60, numeric system,
which could be counted
physically using the twelve
knuckles on one hand the five
fingers on the other hand.
Babylonian numerals
The Babylonians developed
another revolutionary
mathematical concept a
circle character for zero.
7. CHINESE NUMBERS
The Chinese numbering system
was developed at the 2nd
millennium BCE.
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This was largely because there was
no concept or symbol of zero.
Chinese numbering system used
small bamboo rods arranged to
represent the numbers 1 to 9,
which were then places in columns
representing units, tens, hundreds,
thousands, etc.
Written numbers had a less
efficient system of using a different
symbol for tens , hundreds,
thousands etc.
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Egyptians invented the first
Ciphered numeral system.
Egyptians introduced the base 10
numeration system at 2700 BCE.
Decimal system was developed
based on our ten fingers.
There was no concept of place
value, so larger numbers were
rather unwieldy.
EGYPTIAN NUMBERS
The Pharaoh’s surveyors used
measurements based on body
parts: a palm was the width of the
hand, a cubit the measurement
from elbow to fingertips .
9. MAYAN NUMBERS
The Mayan (2000 BCE )were used a
number system based on base 20,
probably developed from counting on
fingers and toes.
The numerals consisted of only three
symbols -
Zero, represented as a shell shape.
One, a dot.
Five, a bar.
The Mayan number system contain just
19 numbers & After 19, larger numbers
were written in a kind of vertical place
value format using powers of 20. 9
10. HELLENISTIC NUMBERS
In the 3rd Century,
Diophantus of
Alexandria was the first
to recognize fractions as
number.
They developed a system
for identifying prime
numbers.
Eratosthenes of
Alexandria greatest legacy is
the “Sieve of Eratosthenes”
algorithm for identifying
prime numbers.
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11. ROMAN NUMBERS
Roman numerals were the
dominant number system for
trade and administration in
most of Europe between 900
and 800 B.C.
It was decimal (base 10)
system but not directly
positional.
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There is no Zero in this System.
This method simplified the
writing of numbers a little, but
made calculation even more
difficult.
12. GREEK NUMBERS
The ancient Greek numeral system, known as Attic or
Herodianic numerals, developed by about 450 BCE.
Symbols for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 repeated as
many times needed to represent the desired number.
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13. INDIAN NUMBERS
Mantras from the early Vedic
period (before 1000 BCE)
contain powers of ten from a
hundred all the way up to a
trillion.
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Evidence of the use of
arithmetic operations such
as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, fractions,
squares, cubes and roots
are also found from it.
14. INDIAN NUMBERS
A circle character for the
number zero is attributed
to a 9th Century in a
temple in Gwalior in
central India.
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Zero is credited to
the 7th Century Indian
mathematicians Brahmagupta.
15. ISLAMIC NUMBERS
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Al-Khwarizmi
• Arab mathematicians mainly work on the use
of complex geometric patterns in raising
mathematics to the form of an art.
• Al-Khwarizmi created the Islamic
numerical system by using the Hindu
numerical system (1 - 9 and 0).
• The 10th Century Arab mathematician Abul
Hasan al-Uqlidisi, showed the positional use
of Arabic numerals, and the use of decimals
instead of fractions.
16. NUMBERS WE USE TODAY
• The current
western numeral
system is the
modified version
of the Hindu-
Arabic numeral
system developed
in India.
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