Math · 2
According to historians, the Babylonians' habit of never writing zero at the end of a number caused lasting ambiguity in which field of study?
Answer
Astronomy
Babylonian sexagesimal (base-60) numerals had no symbol for a trailing zero, so the same string of digits could represent different magnitudes, causing confusion in astronomical tables used to track celestial cycles.
💡 Did you know?
The Babylonians used zero around 300 BCE but only in the middle of numbers, never at the end—creating ambiguity that plagued astronomy for centuries.
Other options people guess
- Architecture
- Agriculture
- Navigation
Topics
- zero
- babylonians
- astronomy
- history-of-math
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