What is Zero? Getting Something from Nothing - with Hannah Fry

Is zero really a number? How did it come about? Hannah Fry tells the story of how zero went from nothing to something.
Subscribe to our channel for weekly science lectures and short films: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe

Help translate this film: http://www.youtube.com/timedtext_video?ref=share&v=9Y7gAzTMdMA

Once upon a time, zero wasn’t really a number. Its journey to the fully fledged number we know and love today was a meandering one. Today, zero is both a placeholder, and tool, within our number system signifying an absence of a value, and as a number in its own right.

But it wasn’t always seen as that, and it still doesn’t act quite like other numbers. Can you divide by zero, for example? Hannah Fry explains how zero came about, from its origins in ancient civilisations, through the resistance it faced from the Roman numeral system, to being the cornerstone of calculus.

Watch more of our lovingly crafted animations about science and maths here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbnrZHfNEDZwhNhy8qucR15N1_X1iZJzv
And if you enjoyed this video, subscribe: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe

The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution
and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/
Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy
Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter

Видео What is Zero? Getting Something from Nothing - with Hannah Fry канала The Royal Institution