The Cultural Impact of Hindu-Arabic Numbers

Abstract

Hindu-Arabic numerals are the result of a gradual evolution of positional notation. The main evolutionary line started with the Brahami species in India around the V century, and then, it evolved to the Gvalior species. Then we found the Hindi/Gubar species in Persia and Arabia, after the VIII and IX centuries. Finally, the notation reached medieval Europe with the Apex species and then the Algorisms species, both of which consolidated during the XVI and XVII Renaissance centuries. Since then, there are no records of any evolutionary changes of the current species.
This paper proposes that the evolution of the notation was through the graphemic alteration over each historical period. This makes Hindu- Arabic notation the great legacy that both civilizations contributed to humankind.