How did the concept of zero originate and why is it important to mathematics?
In: Mathematics
Scientific American has [a good history of the development of zero](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/history-of-zero/). The short version is that zero-as-placeholder is documented as far back as Ancient Mesopotamia, from whence it traveled to India and was developed into zero-as-number. Probably (it’s a bit fuzzy). The Maya also developed the concept of zero independently.
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