See
http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~cm1993/maths/mm2217/countsys.htm
for discussion of Hindu-Arabic numbers and their dissemination in the West.

Gordon


At 10:44 AM 5/7/01 -0300, Steve Lelievre wrote:
This is off-topic, but why are they called Arabic numerals? Presumably
because the system of positional significance is Arabic in origin?

Also, real Arabic digits look nothing like the digits in the West (see
attached for 0 to 9, Arabic style). Why and when did the differences arise?

Steve

Gordon Uber   [EMAIL PROTECTED]  San Diego, California  USA
Webmaster: Clocks and Time: http://www.ubr.com/clocks

Reply via email to