I published this article at Ipernity
on 30 December 2013
de - eo - fr - es - it - rus - nl - ukr - hu - cz
About the invention of the signs
for the 'zero' and the 'numbers'
0
123456789
10
A short story
for inquisitive children
and curious adults
There is a small town on the edge of beautiful vineyards
from the top you have a wonderful view.
Here lives a couple with 2 children - more precisely -
with a pair of twins - Max and Luisa.
But everyone only calls the two Maxe and Lissy.
They like to go to school.
Everyone has their favorite subjects.
Lissy's favorite subject is mathematics -
Maxe likes to paint and act.
Now her 10th birthday is approaching -
and her parents are considering it
with what gift they can please both.
On a Sunday everyone is sitting at the lunch table.
Suddenly, out of the blue, Lissy says:
«Hello Daddy - you know - what we like best
wish for a birthday? «
The parents look at their daughter in amazement.
«No - how should we know»
«OK - so dad -
- you are so clever -
I thought about something with Maxe.
We are soon celebrating our 10th birthday
Actually the zero stands for 'nothing'
but if I write another number before that
all of a sudden the zero is worth a lot.
I find it super exciting
- just awesome -
So you two - dad and mom -
you are grown up
and the adults are sooo smart -
When and how was zero invented? "
But that was a long speech.
And now they're sitting there
and look expectantly at their parents.
Then Maxe raises his hand:
»May I ask something else?
Who actually invented the numbers? "
It is silent
Finally the father says:
»These are three very difficult questions.
How should I know that? "
»Well - just have a look at Wikipedia.
Wikipedia knows everything! "
means mischievously smiling Maxe.
Well - what is left for the father?
He doesn't want to disappoint his children.
Besides - it would be exciting for him too
- to find out -
First he looks at Wikipedia:
There he learns:
Only 3 races work with the number zero
The Babylonians - the Egyptians and the Indians.
The Egyptians take the hieroglyph for
nothing
The word NULL - he reads - comes from
the Latin: Nullus and means none
There is another phrase in the German language:
"Null and void"
So zero has a long history.
But all of this is far too complicated for the children.
The questions keep going through his mind
- Nothing - zero - signs - numbers -
He almost wants to give up the search
... there he has ...
a beautiful long and clear
DREAM
Suddenly he flies
an old fortress appears - big old trees -
- a sandy place - children play -
- an old man sits under a tree -
This man seems to be waiting for him:
He waves a staff
and greets our father like an old acquaintance:
"Well - did you finally find your way to me?
I've been waiting for you for a long time.
I know your PROBLEM «
The father is very surprised at that.
The old man makes a sign with his hand
and already there is a table with two cups of tea.
"Yes" - that's how the man begins
»Your children would like to know
like the sign of NOTHING
- today you call that ZERO - was invented.
I can explain that to you
Because I invented it «
The father is very amazed and at the same time he thinks:
"How lucky I am"
The children are playing - the sun is shining
Finally the old man says:
"Come on - let's go to the fountain"
Once there, he says
»What do you see here? "
"Well - a fountain"
"Good - and now look into the fountain -
What do you see now "
»Nothing - I see - nothing«
»Do you see - this also happened to me many - many - years ago«
says the old man - "there I stood here - like you now
and looked into the fountain
and in a flash I saw before me
- the SIGN for NOTHING -
»What is the shape of the fountain? "
»He is ROUND«
"Do you see -
the sign for NOTHING
or the NULL
is a CIRCLE
- there is also in the circle -
- NOTHING -
__________________
It is quiet - very quiet -
"But come on - let's have another tea"
The children are playing - the sun is shining -
- it is pleasant in the shade -
"Yes" is how the old man begins
"You have a second problem"
»Yes - I have - the signs for the numbers«
»Well - I can tell you that quickly -
- because it was not that difficult -
the most important thing - it seemed to me - was:
each number should only have one character -
So - there are 3 options for simple characters
a straight line - a curve or a hook
and finally the circle.
I - /? O
I quickly had the signs for
one - two - four - five - seven
1- 2 - 4 - 5 - 7
It just took a little longer for me to sign
three - six - eight - nine
3 - 6 - 8 - 9
had found.
But the TEN - we have 9 fingers plus one.
this number has given me a lot of headaches for a long time.
Because I was still looking for the 10th
a sign -
but somehow I didn't get anywhere.
As usual, one day I went back to the fountain -
- and there it happened as if by accident -
a stick to the left of the fountain
- I suspected -
this stick had something to do with the TEN
he wanted to tell me something:
...and and and...
then enlightenment came to me like lightning:
THE FLOOR NEXT
and with that
CIRCLE TOGETHER -
this is the
SIGN for the TEN
- AND SO THE NULL got a VALUE -
As if the kids noticed that
- they come - make a CIRCLE -
and dance around the old man and the father.
A child sings softly
"Zero and ten"
and everyone agrees
" Oh how nice "
"Zero and ten"
" Oh how nice "
the song gets louder
it swells
and now fills
... the whole planet ...
Everyone is happy and happy about this discovery
»Yes« - says Alte Mann »from now on everything was easy:
10 - 20 - 30 ... 80 - 90
100 - 200 ... 1000 - 2000
You see - today is 2014
How easy you can count now
The children learn this already in elementary school.
Now you can your two children
Maxe and Lissy this beautiful story
to tell about her 10th birthday. "
Suddenly the father flies
the space becomes smaller and smaller
- the children and the old man
wave goodbye -
... Then there is a jerk ...
and the father lands roughly next to the bed.
But it doesn't matter
because now he can his children
tell this beautiful story
- even if it's just a dream story -
But he does not forget this beautiful dream.
Everyone is now eagerly awaiting their 10th birthday
the parents and most of all the twins.
The children are surprised and delighted
about this beautiful story
and of course about her clever father.
Suddenly Maxe answers and says:
"Daddy - I want to play the dream -"
»Oh yes - great idea - Maxe - everyone calls almost at the same time«
Since then they have been playing the piece on every birthday.
Even the teacher likes it.
They practices it with the students.
And with great pleasure
play the piece again and again.
Now every child knows the piece.
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:-)
Text and photos by Albert Jäger
The castle - the figures - the trees and the fountain
are from my grandchildren's extensive Playmobil range
They immediately got involved - thank you
:-)
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