Engineering an Empire - The Maya - pt4

Engineering an Empire - The Maya

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Travel & Events

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• History

[Bullettube]

I take issue with the statement that Europeans did not have the concept of zero. Catholic monks saved most of the ancient knowledge after the collapse of the Roman Empire including high math. The concept came from the Persians who had the idea for some 1000 yrs before Rome!

[janisjai]

Thanks for your input. ;)

[eggsandwich8885]

Bullettube:

Not nessesarily, the concept of Zero was invented by the "real" Indians of India. Some would even claim that the Babylonians had a conept, but that's not as concrete. The Maya "independently" invented it on their own.

[cavaleer]

Zero wasn't introduced in Europe until the African Moors brought it to Spain, when they invaded and ruled Spain from 711-1492. The Church perhaps tried to keep this a secret but merchants found it too useful. That's how zero came to Europe. But the Moors were merely transmitting it along the merchant routes that moved throughout the Mediterranean and African-Asian routes.

The reason you take offense has nothing to do with facts or history but with your ideas of what Europeans knew.

[Saigonplayboy]

I love history, and thank God the Spaniard explorers didn't destroy these buildings

[vitotiv]

@Bullettube india was first "country" that "used" zero

[Bahutsauvage]

@Bullettube Thats not entirely true because although zero was known to babylonians, greeks and romans it wasnt used in the way the mayans worked with it. The zero as we know and use in nowadays mathematics came to europe with the arabs who importet the usage of zero from India. Besides the preservation of ancient knowledge was not a accomplishmetn you can grat to catholic monks. Most of it was preseved in the bycantine empire.

[gamepro217]

chichen itza is a beautiful city I have been there :D

[cavaleer]

Yes, they probably did. But I wonder if they really thought of it as "nothing" or as "the whole from which all things come"?? As in a mouth opening, or a string vibrating, or an egg, like the Egyptians drew thing similar to "zero".

[lifes40123]

who cares about zero!!!! everybody knows what it is now today

[lifes40123]

caveman knew what zero was since prehistoric times.

[cavaleer]

Thanks. Zero is originally a philosophical concept long before it became a practical, mathematical tool. It's an interesting concept to explore. Personally, I don't think there is such a thing as zero. The Chinese, Egyptians and most of the Meditarranean did not have zero. Conceptually it does not fit with Egyptian or Chinese worldview. And now the latest discoveries of quantum physics confirm that there is no such thing as zero.

[beefspareribs]

Great comment, well put.

[MsPsychDoc]

The Mayans were some very, very intelligent people...