0:02 Today we're diving into the fascinating
0:05 world of the Hindu Arabic number system.
0:06 The very system that forms the
0:09 foundation of the numerals we use every
0:13 day. So what exactly is the Hindu Arabic
0:16 number system? Well, it all started long
0:19 ago with mathematicians in India who
0:21 developed these numerals. Persian and
0:24 Arabic scholars called them Hindu
0:26 numerals. And when Arab merchants
0:28 introduced them to Europe, they became
0:32 known as Arabic numerals. Pretty
0:34 interesting, right? The Hindu Arabic
0:36 numeral system is unique because it's
0:39 one of the few systems that uses place
0:41 value. This system revolutionized
0:43 mathematics by making addition,
0:45 subtraction, multiplication, and
0:49 division much easier and more practical.
0:51 The symbols 0 to 9 are called digits and
0:54 the base is 10. Developed from counting
0:57 on fingers. Fun fact, the word digit
1:00 actually comes from the Latin word for fingers.
1:02 fingers.
1:04 In this system, positional values are
1:07 based on powers of 10.
1:10 For example, the number 434 can be
1:13 written in expanded form as 4 * 10 to
1:19 the power of 2 + 3 * 10 ^ of 1 + 4 * 10
1:23 to the power of 0. Easy, right?
1:26 But how did these numerals evolve? Let's
1:29 take a journey through time. The symbols
1:31 we know today didn't appear in Europe
1:34 until the 15th century, but their
1:37 history goes back much further. One
1:38 important source of information on this
1:42 topic is the writer Alberuni. Alberuni,
1:44 a scholar born in modern-day
1:47 Usuzbekiststan, visited India several
1:49 times and documented their number
1:52 system. To trace these origins, we go
1:54 back to the 3rd century B.CE and the
1:57 Brahmi numerals.
2:00 The full Hindu Arabic numeral system
2:03 emerged by the 8th to 9th centuries and
2:06 is first described outside India in Alquarism's
2:08 Alquarism's
2:10 on the calculation with Hindu numerals
2:13 and Alkindi's four volume work on the
2:16 use of the Indian numerals.
2:18 The Brahmy numerals were quite complex
2:20 with separate symbols for numbers 1
2:24 through 9, 10, 100, 1,000 and more. Over
2:27 centuries, these evolved into various forms.
2:28 forms.
2:31 One significant path of evolution led
2:33 through the Gupta numerals during the
2:36 Gupta dynasty's rule in the 4th to 6th
2:38 centuries. These eventually transformed
2:41 into the Nagari numerals by the 11th
2:45 century. And guess what? By this time,
2:50 the symbol for zero had appeared.
2:53 These numerals were adopted by the Arabs
2:55 during the 8th century who played a
2:57 crucial role in spreading them across
3:01 the world including Spain. [Music]
3:24 Finally, this figure shows various forms
3:26 of these numerals as they developed and
3:29 eventually converged to the 15th century
3:31 in Europe.
3:34 The adoption in Europe was gradual. The
3:36 first Arabic numerals appeared in the
3:39 codeex vigilantis in 976.
3:42 Then in 1202, Fibonacci promoted them
3:44 with his book Liber Abbachi after
3:50 The invention of the printing press in
3:52 the 15th century helped popularize these
3:56 numerals. By 1512, they appeared in
3:58 their modern form in Ju Ortega's
4:02 arithmetic book. And in 1549, Juand de
4:05 Isar's arithmetica practica used the
4:08 correct modern sequence.
4:10 Over the last few centuries, the
4:12 European version of Arabic numerals
4:14 spread globally, becoming the most
4:19 commonly used numeral system worldwide.
4:21 Before we wrap up, let's look at a quick
4:24 comparison with other numeral systems.
4:27 For instance, Roman numerals which use
4:29 letters and have no place value can be
4:32 much more cumbersome for calculations
4:35 compared to our Hindu Arabic system. And
4:37 how about a quick exercise? Try
4:39 converting this Roman numeral to Hindu
4:43 Arabic. Pause the video if you need to.
4:46 Got it? It's 24.
4:48 So there you have it. The incredible
4:50 journey of the Hindu Arabic number
4:53 system from ancient India to modern
4:56 times, transforming mathematics along
4:58 the way. Thanks for watching. See you
