時差N小時:數(shù)字零的由來(下)

Older cultures like the Babylonians used a markerof some sort to designate the space where nonumber goes, such as what comes between six andnine in the number six hundred and nine. TheGreeks even used a round figure similar to themodern zero. It wasn’t until the Indianmathematicians got a hold of zero that peoplestarted thinking of it as a number that could be usedas more than a placeholder for other numbers. Itsounds weird, but that was a major step forward inmathematics!

【生詞注釋】

Babylonian n.巴比倫人

marker 標(biāo)記

designate vt.指定

mathematician n.數(shù)學(xué)家

placeholder n.占位符

weird adj.奇怪

【參考譯文】

古文化比如巴比倫人用某種標(biāo)記來指定沒有數(shù)字的位置，比如數(shù)字609，6和9之間的數(shù)字位置。古希臘人用一個類似現(xiàn)代0的圓形數(shù)字來表示。直到印度數(shù)學(xué)家發(fā)明了0，人們才開始思考0對于其他數(shù)字來說不只可以用作一個占位符。聽起來很奇怪，但那是數(shù)學(xué)界一個重要的進步。