Zero allows for the creation of negative numbers from "summary" of Zero by Charles Seife
Imagine a world without zero. In such a world, numbers are used to count things, but there is no concept of nothingness. Everything is a positive quantity; there is no negative to balance the positive. This is the world before the invention of zero. Zero changes everything. It is the missing piece in the mathematical puzzle, the key that unlocks a whole new realm of numbers. With zero, we can now represent the absence of something, the void where there was once quantity. But zero does more than just signify nothingness; it also paves the way for the creation of negative numbers. Zero acts as a reference point, a starting point from which we can move in either direction along the number line. Positive numbers represent quantities greater than zero, while negative numbers represent quantities less than zero. Without zero as a point of origin, negative numbers would have no meaning; they would be adrift in a s...
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