Islam Creator of the Modern Age
3. Muslim Contribution to Science
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English entitled, ‘The Story of Zero,’ which has been
written for the general reader as well as for children
by Dilip M. Salwai.
Before this invention there existed no simple
method of representing large figures. According to
one method, certain words were fixed for particular
figures like Sahasara for 1,000, Aayota for 10,000,
Laksha for 100,000, and Koti for 1,000,000. The
invention of zero revolutionized the science of
mathematics, for now it became extremely easy to
denote large figures.
Brahma Gupta (598-660), who was born in Multan,
was the first notable person to work out a method
of using the zero. However his method had some
shortcomings. Later on Bhaskar (1114-1185), who
was born in Bijapur, wrote a book in Sanskrit called
Lailawati,
in which he described the zero concept in
simpler and more understandable terms.
R. K. Murthi, in his review of this book, writes: “It
boosts our sense of national pride to note that the
zero was conceived of in India. “
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