时差N小时 数字零的由来(下)

Older cultures like the Babylonians used a marker of some sort to designate¹ the space where no number goes, such as what comes between six and nine in the number six hundred and nine. The Greeks even used a round figure similar to the modern zero. It wasn’t until the Indian mathematicians² got a hold of zero that people started thinking of it as a number that could be used as more than a placeholder for other numbers. It sounds weird³, but that was a major step forward in mathematics!

【参考译文】

古文化比如巴比伦人用某种标记来指定没有数字的位置，比如数字609，6和9之间的数字位置。古希腊人用一个类似现代0的圆形数字来表示。直到印度数学家发明了0，人们才开始思考0对于其他数字来说不只可以用作一个占位符。听起来很奇怪，但那是数学界一个重要的进步。

1 designate   

v.指明，标明，指出，指派，指定

参考例句：

• Will you designate the flowers you wish?你能说出你想要的花吗？
• There are efforts under way to designate the bridge a historic landmark.人们正在努力将这座桥定为历史遗迹。

2 mathematicians   

数学家( mathematician的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? 你以为我们的数学家做不到这一点吗？ 来自英汉文学
• Mathematicians can solve problems with two variables. 数学家们可以用两个变数来解决问题。 来自哲学部分

3 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。