The Hindu-Arabic Numerals c9.134

c9.134

The genuineness of the arithmetic and the treatise on music is generally recognized, but the geometry, which contains the Hindu numerals with the zero, is under suspicion.⁵ There are plenty of supporters of the idea that Boethius knew the numerals and included them in this book,⁶ and on the other hand there are as many who feel that the geometry, or at least the part mentioning the numerals, is spurious.¹ The argument of those who deny the authenticity of the particular passage in question may briefly be stated thus: