History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s16.1

v1.c7.s16.1

**Boethius Question.** It cannot be definitely said when and how the Hindu numerals reached Europe. Their earliest occurrence is found in a manuscript of the Geometry of Boethius (*c.* 500), said to belong to the tenth century. There are several other manuscripts of this work and they all contain the numerals. Some of these contain the zero whilst the others do not. If these manuscripts (or the portions of them that contain the numerals) be regarded as genuine, it will have to be acknowledged that the Hindu numerals had reached Southern Europe about the close of the fifth century. There are some who consider the passages dealing with the Hindu numerals in the Geometry of Boethius to be spurious. Their arguments can be summarised as below :