The mathematical concepts of decimals, zero, numerals, and algebra can be accredited to people from several ancient cultures, particularly those in the Middle East and South Asia.
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Decimals: The use of decimal systems can be traced back to ancient India around the 6th century CE, but concepts involving place value and the decimal system were developed further by mathematicians in the Islamic Golden Age.
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Zero: The concept of zero as both a placeholder and a number was developed in ancient India, with the earliest recorded use in the 5th century CE, particularly by the mathematician Brahmagupta. The notion of zero was later transmitted to the Islamic world and then to Europe.
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Numerals: The numeral system we use today, the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, originated in India and was then transmitted to the Islamic mathematicians who expanded and popularized it. It eventually spread to Europe in the medieval period.
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Algebra: The word "algebra" itself comes from the title of the 9th-century work "Al-Kitab al-Mukhtasar fi Hisab al-Jabr wal-Muqabala" by the Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi. His work laid the foundations for algebra as a distinct mathematical discipline.
In summary, these concepts were developed over centuries, with significant contributions from ancient Indian, Persian, and later Islamic scholars, leading to the mathematics we use today.
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