The Nine Figures, Zero and the Position System

Abstract

Leonardo Fibonacci in 1202 wrote in the book ‘Liber Abaci’, “There are the nine figures of the Indians, 987654321. With these nine figures, and with the sign ‘o’, which in Arabic is called Zephirum, any number can be written, as will be demonstrated.” The invention of zero is of course the biggest invention in the history of the whole science. The modern system of writing numbers as a sequence of digits is so simple and convenient that we tend to take it for granted, but it is difficult to overstate the importance of this brilliant innovation. In this paper, I have tried to explain the importance of this brilliant innovation.