Division by Zero/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Division by Zero
Brahmagupta stated that:
- positive or negative divided by cipher is a fraction with that for denominator.
This was then referred to as quantity with zero as denominator.
Mahaviracharya writes in Ganita Sara Samgraha of c. $850$ CE:
- A number multiplied by zero is zero and that number remains unchanged which is divided by, added to or diminished by zero.
which is of course seriously questionable.
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $0$ Zero
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $0$ Zero