Angles and the Hindu-Arabic Numerals

The image below has been circulating on the internet for quite a while. It shows that the number of angles on the numerals is equal to the value of the number. The number four, for instance, has four angles.

The Hindu-Arabic Numerals

The image was not created without basis. During the infancy of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, the way of writing numbers  that we use today, a system of counting angles as shown above was adopted. This was shortly after the release of two books namely On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals by al-Kwharizmi (about 825 AD) and On the Use of Indian Numerals by Abu Yusuf Yaqub Ibn Ishdaq al-Kindi (830 AD).  These two books popularized the use of Hindu-Arabic numerals in the Middle East.

As we all know, eventually the Hindu-Arabic way of writing numbers and computations replaced the Roman Numerals.

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Reference: The Story of Mathematics: From Creating the Pyraminds to Exploring Infinity