(via Big Think) Before the introduction of zero, mathematics was a tangible subject, where numbers held weight and substance. With zero came the concept of a mathematical “nothing;” it turned our ...

Around 2,500 years ago, Babylonian traders in Mesopotamia impressed two slanted wedges into clay tablets. The shapes represented a placeholder digit, squeezed between others, to distinguish numbers ...

Explains the concept of zero in mathematics, emphasizing its role as a number that represents the empty set. It illustrates how zero is used in addition and subtraction, showing that adding or ...

In Math, Can You Make Something Out of Nothing? | RealClearScience Doesn't it? The main point is: How to deal with zero. You can start with nothing and say: something is the opposite of zero. On the ...

A set of the six sides of a die matches up one-to-one with a set of red shoes, helping illustrate Georg Cantor's set theorem. Image courtesy of GBH/NOVA It can be easy to take math for granted. But ...