Numerals

Submitted by marc joris (Belgium), Aug 12, 2005 at 10:01

Dear Ilaila,

Our numeral system was invented in India, not in the Arabic world. It's clear for everyone who's willing to see it: Arabic scripture runs from right to left, the numbers from left to right. You can easily see this in the quran: numbers and decimals are alien to the arabic culture, they've been imported after the islamic conquests (and genocides) in India, in those days a centre of wisdom and knowledge. The same goes for algebra. The word "algebra" is dirived from the Arabic, buth the science itself originated from China. The muslims just imported it.

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