Yasemin Saplakoglu

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey Shortwavers, it's Regina Barber. And today is the first day of 2025. Happy New Year! The new year is all about blank slates. New beginnings, starting from scratch. And so we thought, what better time than now to focus on the number that signifies origin points. Literally starting from nothing. Zero. Zero.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey Shortwavers, it's Regina Barber. And today is the first day of 2025. Happy New Year! The new year is all about blank slates. New beginnings, starting from scratch. And so we thought, what better time than now to focus on the number that signifies origin points. Literally starting from nothing. Zero. Zero.

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey Shortwavers, it's Regina Barber. And today is the first day of 2025. Happy New Year! The new year is all about blank slates. New beginnings, starting from scratch. And so we thought, what better time than now to focus on the number that signifies origin points. Literally starting from nothing. Zero. Zero.

So Zira was invented relatively late in history. It was first thought to be invented around 2,500 years ago by Babylonian traders in ancient Mesopotamia, actually. That's Yasmin Soplicolu. She's a science writer at Quantum magazine. Back then, they used a symbol like two slanted wedges on clay tablets. But at the time, it wasn't a number yet.

So Zira was invented relatively late in history. It was first thought to be invented around 2,500 years ago by Babylonian traders in ancient Mesopotamia, actually. That's Yasmin Soplicolu. She's a science writer at Quantum magazine. Back then, they used a symbol like two slanted wedges on clay tablets. But at the time, it wasn't a number yet.

So Zira was invented relatively late in history. It was first thought to be invented around 2,500 years ago by Babylonian traders in ancient Mesopotamia, actually. That's Yasmin Soplicolu. She's a science writer at Quantum magazine. Back then, they used a symbol like two slanted wedges on clay tablets. But at the time, it wasn't a number yet.

It was really used as a placeholder so that you can distinguish between different types of numbers like 20 or 250 or 205.

It was really used as a placeholder so that you can distinguish between different types of numbers like 20 or 250 or 205.

It was really used as a placeholder so that you can distinguish between different types of numbers like 20 or 250 or 205.

And Yasmin says that this idea of a placeholder wasn't totally unique. The ancient Maya, for example, had a little shell symbol that they used in a similar way. But zero didn't really become a number on its own until around the 7th century.

And Yasmin says that this idea of a placeholder wasn't totally unique. The ancient Maya, for example, had a little shell symbol that they used in a similar way. But zero didn't really become a number on its own until around the 7th century.

And Yasmin says that this idea of a placeholder wasn't totally unique. The ancient Maya, for example, had a little shell symbol that they used in a similar way. But zero didn't really become a number on its own until around the 7th century.

There were Indian mathematicians who came up with a couple of ways to use zero as a number, and they were the kind of first to figure out that zero could be a digit, just like the other numbers, like 1 and 2 and 3. After that, it kind of went out from India to the Arab world. And then, you know, in the 13th century, Fominachi actually picked up the idea during his travels in North Africa.

There were Indian mathematicians who came up with a couple of ways to use zero as a number, and they were the kind of first to figure out that zero could be a digit, just like the other numbers, like 1 and 2 and 3. After that, it kind of went out from India to the Arab world. And then, you know, in the 13th century, Fominachi actually picked up the idea during his travels in North Africa.

There were Indian mathematicians who came up with a couple of ways to use zero as a number, and they were the kind of first to figure out that zero could be a digit, just like the other numbers, like 1 and 2 and 3. After that, it kind of went out from India to the Arab world. And then, you know, in the 13th century, Fominachi actually picked up the idea during his travels in North Africa.

And he brought it back to medieval Europe, you know, along with the base 10 number system.

And he brought it back to medieval Europe, you know, along with the base 10 number system.

And he brought it back to medieval Europe, you know, along with the base 10 number system.

But in medieval Europe, not everyone was thrilled about this concept of zero.

But in medieval Europe, not everyone was thrilled about this concept of zero.