"A critical step was made sometime before the ninth century AD, when a new partial script was invented, one that could store and process mathematical data with unprecedented efficiency. This partial script was composed of ten signs, representing the numbers from 0 - 9. Confusingly, these signs were known as Arabic numerals even though they were first invented by the Hindus."
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Original Language: English
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Sources
Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011), Chapter 7: "Memory Overload"
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Number
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