What is zero? A symbol, a number, or something far more profound?
Zero Before the Symbol: Aryabhata and the Mathematics of Nothingness offers a rigorous re-examination of the origin of zero, shifting the focus from symbolic invention to structural emergence. Through a detailed analysis of the Aryabhatiya, the book demonstrates that Aryabhata's positional system encodes a functional notion of absence without the use of an explicit symbol. It further interprets Brahmagupta's work as the formalization of an already existing concept. Integrating primary Sanskrit sources with mathematical reconstruction, the monograph presents zero as a unified entity-structure, concept, and number-while offering a balanced historiographical perspective on its global development.
Autorentext
Prof. Dr. Bimal Kumar Mishra is a mathematician specializing in nonlinear dynamics, cybersecurity, and mathematical modeling. He holds M.Sc. (Operational Research), M.Sc. (Mathematics), Ph.D., and D.Sc. degrees. He has served as Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematics at BIT Mesra, taught at BIT'S Pilani, and is currently the Principal of Adarsh College, Rajdhanwar, under Vinoba Bhave University.A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (UK) and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (UK), he has supervised numerous Ph.D. scholars, published extensively, contributed to Vedic Mathematics scholarship, and holds multiple national and international patents.