western trade routes to Spain and Northern Africa that were taken by the Arabic/Islam-
ic peoples; this consequently resulted in the expanded use of these symbols.
It took several more centuries to spread the idea to Europe. Although the Spanish
used some Hindu-Arabic symbols as early as the late 900s, records of a more extensive use
of these symbols occurred around 1202. Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa (also
known as Fibonacci, c. 1170–c. 1250; for more about Fibonacci, see p. 77 and “History of
Mathematics”) introduced the Hindu-Arabic numbers in his book Liber Abaci(The Book
of the Abacus). The acceptance of such a numbering system was difficult. For example, in
some places in Italy it was forbidden to use anything but Roman numerals. By the late
15th century, most people in Europe were still using an abacus and Roman numerals.
The 16th century was the turning point, with European traders, surveyors, book-
keepers, and merchants spreading the use of the Hindu-Arabic numerals. After all, it
took longer to record data using Roman numerals than with Hindu-Arabic numbers.
The advent of the printing press also helped by standardizing the way the Hindu-
Arabic numbers looked. By the 18th century, the “new” numeration system was
entrenched, establishing a system that dominates the way we work with and perceive
numbers in the 21st century. (For more information about Hindu-Arabic and Roman
numerals, see “History of Mathematics.”)How did the Hindu-Arabic numbers evolve?
The evolution of the Hindu-Arabic numbers was not a straight line from India to Ara-
70 bia and on to Europe. In between, the Arabic cultures had more than one number sys-
One of the earliest and most common devices developed for making everyday calculations was the abacus, which
was still being used in Europe as late as the 15th century. Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images.