新奇事件簿 数字符号零可追溯至三世纪(在线收听

Scientists from Oxford University in England have discovered that the written use of the zero is 500 years older than previously thought. The scientists used carbon dating to trace the symbol's origins to a famous ancient Indian scroll called the Bakhshali Manuscript. Scientists found the scroll dates back to the third century, which makes it the oldest script using the symbol. Before the carbon dating of the scroll, scientists believed the manuscript was created in the eighth century. It was found in the village of Bakhshali in 1881. The zero symbol that we use today evolved from a round dot frequently used in India. This symbol can be seen several times on the manuscript.

来自英格兰牛津大学的科学家发现,“0”的书写方式比此前认为的历史还要悠久500年。科学家使用碳元素追踪了“0”这个符号的起源至著名的印度《巴赫沙里手稿》。科学家发现,该画卷追溯至三世纪,是使用这个符号的最古老的文稿。对该文稿进行碳元素追踪之前,科学家认为该手稿是八世纪的。这份文稿是1881年在巴赫沙利村发现的。我们今天使用的“0”这个字符是从印度经常使用的圆点演变来的。这份文稿中几次用到这个符号。

Marcus Du Santoy, a mathematics professor at Oxford University, explained the significance of the zero in our lives. He told Britain's 'Guardian' newspaper that: "Today, we take it for granted that the concept of zero is used across the globe and is a key building block of the digital world. But the creation of zero as a number in its own right, which evolved from the placeholder dot symbol found in the Bakhshali manuscript, was one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of mathematics." Zero has many names in English, including nought, nil (in football) and love (in tennis). It is often said as "oh" in the context of telephone numbers. Informal or slang terms for zero include nowt, nada, zilch and zip.

牛津大学数学教授Marcus Du Santoy解释了“0”在我们生活中的重要性。她告诉英国《卫报》:“今天,0在全球广泛使用,是数字化世界的关键组成要素,我们认为这是天经地义,理所当然的。但是0作为一个数字的出现,从巴赫沙里手稿里一个占位符不断计划发展,在数学界的历史上是最伟大的突破。”“0”在英语中有很多名字,零,在足球中叫nil,在网球中叫love。在电话号码中通常被读作“oh”。非正式的或俚语中的“0”包括nowt, nada, zilch和zip。

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/xqsjb/508009.html