Re:How the number zero was ‘discovered’
by Amorymeltzer on Thursday December 08, 2016 @02:08PM
(#13133101)
I've commented on this on a previously-posted story[1] but the history of zero is really worth digging into. I'll repost the little poem I mentioned previously:
>U 0 a 0, but I 0 thee
>O 0 no 0, but O 0 me.
>O let not my 0 a mere 0 go,
>But 0 my 0 I 0 thee so.
As noted in the comments here, "cipher" used to be another name for zero/0, so the above reads as:
>You sigh for a cipher, but I sigh for thee
>O sigh for no cipher, but O sigh for me.
>O let not my sigh for a mere cipher go
>But sigh for my sigh, for I sigh for thee so.
Which, of course, explains why Neo, The One from the Matrix, had an enemy named Cypher.
>U 0 a 0, but I 0 thee
>O 0 no 0, but O 0 me.
>O let not my 0 a mere 0 go,
>But 0 my 0 I 0 thee so.
As noted in the comments here, "cipher" used to be another name for zero/0, so the above reads as:
>You sigh for a cipher, but I sigh for thee
>O sigh for no cipher, but O sigh for me.
>O let not my sigh for a mere cipher go
>But sigh for my sigh, for I sigh for thee so.
Which, of course, explains why Neo, The One from the Matrix, had an enemy named Cypher.
1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9196813