Fun with Numbers

The numbers we all use (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) are known as "Arabic" numbers to distinguish them from the "Roman Numerals" (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, etc). Actually the Arabs popularized these numbers in the early 9th century C.E. (mainly through the work in Baghdad of al Khawarzimi who was born in Uzbekistan) but they were originally used by the early Phonecian traders to count and keep track of their trading accounts.

Have you ever thought why ........ 1 means "one", and 2 means "two"? The roman numerals are easy to understand but what was the logic behind the phonecian numbers?

It's all about angles !

No 1 has one angle.
No 2 has two angles.
No 3 has three angles.
No 4 (which used to be written +) has four angles.
etc.

and "O" has no angles

Interesting, isn't it?

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