Wednesday, March 10, 2010

How and Why The Arabs Made Our Basic Numbers

My daughter, Marni, sent this to me. Whether this is true or not, it is very interesting…

How numerals 0 - 9 got their shape:

Do you know why numbers look like they do? Someone, at some point in time, had to create their shapes and meaning. Watch this short presentation and then you will know how our Arabic numbers were originally created a very long time ago and what logic the people that created them used to determine their shapes. It is really very simple and quite creative? You have to admire the intelligence of a person that created something so simple and perfect that it has lasted for thousands and thousands of years and will probably never change? Give it a look-see.



You no doubt noticed when the presentation gets to the number "seven" that the 7 has a line through the middle of it. That was the way the Arabic 7 was originally written, and in Europe and certain other areas they still write the 7 that way. Also, in the military, they commonly write it that way.

The nine has a kind of curly tail on it that has been reduced, for the most part nowadays, to a simple curve, but the logic involved still applies.

Coo1, huh?

9 comments:

Golden To Silver Val said...

OMG, how interesting! And here I always thought that extra line some put in their sevens was so it couldn't be mixed up with a one! This is something to pass on to the grandkids. Thanks!

CI-Roller Dude said...

Now I can retire in peace.

Liz Mays said...

How come they didn't teach us that in school? That's incredibly interesting!

Christine said...

Wow, I learned something today. Love it.

Miss Em said...

Knew about the "7" but not the
"9". Don't really think I'll be writing the "9" that way anytime soon.

As for the others, I've seen a lot of them on the History channel when they are showing the writings of ancient times.

But Yea-Ya it is cool.

Miss Em
Austell, Ga.

Matty said...

Wow. I learned something new today. That is very interesting, and now I can't wait to impress someone with my new found wisdom.

Aleta said...

That is neat! I'll have to show it to Greg. I think he'd enjoy it. Oh, and I used to put that little line in the 7 when I was younger. I saw a friend do that in grammar school and thought it was fun.

Tgoette said...

Wow, that is cool! I always figured it was just an arbitrary design but now it appears that there is a logical process behind it. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Southern (in)Sanity said...

That is very interesting ... and informative!!!!!