The Greatest Mathematical Discovery?

Bailey, David H. ; Borwein, Jonathan M.

关键词: 97;    MATHEMATICS;    HISTORICAL ASPECTS;    TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION;   

DOI  :  10.2172/983483
RP-ID  :  LBNL-3500E
PID  :  OSTI ID: 983483
Others  :  TRN: US201014%%534

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

What mathematical discovery more than 1500 years ago: (1) Is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, single discovery in the field of mathematics? (2) Involved three subtle ideas that eluded the greatest minds of antiquity, even geniuses such as Archimedes? (3) Was fiercely resisted in Europe for hundreds of years after its discovery? (4) Even today, in historical treatments of mathematics, is often dismissed with scant mention, or else is ascribed to the wrong source? Answer: Our modern system of positional decimal notation with zero, together with the basic arithmetic computational schemes, which were discovered in India about 500 CE.