History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s12.58

v1.c7.s12.58

In all works on arithmetic (*pâṭîgaṇita*) zero has been used to denote the unknown. This use of zero can be traced back to the third century A.D. It is used for the unknown in the Bakhshâlî arithmetic. In algebra, however, letters or syllables have been always used for the unknown. It seems that zero for the unknown was employed in arithmetic, really to denote the absence of a quantity, and was not a symbol in the same sense as the algebraic *x* (*yâ*), for it does not appear in subsequent steps as the algebraic symbols do. This use of zero is mostly found in problems on proportion—the Rule of Five, Rule of Seven, etc. The Arabs also under Hindu influence used zero for the unknown in similar problems. Similar use of zero for the unknown quantity is found in Europe in a Latin manuscript of some lectures by Gottfried Wolack in the University of Erfurt in 1467-68.¹ The dot placed over a number has been used in Hindu *Gaṇita* to denote the negative. In this case it denotes the 'absence' of the positive sign. Similar use of the dot is found in Arabia and Europe obviously under Hindu influence.²