What if the numbers we use every day weren’t as “Arabic” as we think?
In Do Arabic Numerals Really Come from Arabia?, Léwis Verdun retraces with precision and clarity the extraordinary history of a numerical system that changed the world.
In just a few minutes of reading, this concise book—published by Five Minutes in the Savoir en bref collection—reveals the Indian origins of the so-called Arabic numerals, their transmission through the Islamic Golden Age, and their gradual adoption in Europe.

An Indian Invention Traveled Through Arabia

The digits we use today, from 0 to 9, were not invented in Arabia, but in ancient India, between the 3rd and 7th centuries CE.
It was there that Indian mathematicians developed the decimal system and introduced the revolutionary concept of zero—both a number and a symbol of nothingness.
This positional system made it possible to perform complex calculations with remarkable simplicity and accuracy.

But how did these ideas spread across the world?
That is where the Arab-Islamic scholars played a decisive role.
From the 9th century onward, scholars in Baghdad, Damascus, and Cordoba, such as Al-Khwarizmi (whose name gave rise to the word algorithm), translated Sanskrit texts and refined these methods.
They standardized the symbols, improved their clarity, and spread them along the trade routes linking India, the Arab world, and the Mediterranean.

From Indo-Arabic Numerals to the European Renaissance

By the 12th century, Arabic mathematical manuscripts reached Europe through Muslim Spain and Sicily.
The mathematician Fibonacci, during his travels in North Africa, discovered this new way of counting and described it in his landmark Liber Abaci (1202).
Through his work, medieval Europe gradually abandoned cumbersome Roman numerals in favor of a far more practical and universal system.

This transformation did not happen overnight.
It took centuries for merchants, bankers, and scholars to adopt the new notation.
Yet it laid the foundation for immense progress—the rise of accounting, the development of modern science, and eventually, the birth of computing.

As Verdun reminds us, the history of numbers is the history of knowledge shared between civilizations—a perfect example of what humanity can achieve when ideas flow freely.

Zero: The Smallest Symbol, the Greatest Revolution

At the heart of this odyssey lies a silent hero: zero.
Invented in India as a mark of absence, it transformed mathematics by providing an internal logic and extraordinary power of calculation.
Without zero, there would be no algebra, no calculus, no computers.

Verdun tells how this abstract concept—once considered mystical or dangerous—was gradually accepted by Arab scholars and then embraced by Europe.
Zero is not just a mathematical invention; it’s also a philosophical symbol: the passage from nothingness to creation, from the invisible to the measurable.
In its simplicity, it embodies the essence of humanity—the ability to turn the unknown into understanding.

A Shared Heritage Between India and the Arab World

The author advocates for a more accurate term: Indo-Arabic numerals.
This expression acknowledges both the Indian origin of the number system and the Arab-Islamic role in its dissemination.
Léwis Verdun dismantles the Eurocentric myth of an invention “born in Arabia,” while celebrating the rich cultural exchange that shaped our modern world.

In an age when cultural identities are often politicized, this perspective is a timely reminder that progress is always collective.
Our numbers, our languages, and our ideas all bear the fingerprints of multiple civilizations intertwined over millennia.

A Lesson for the Digital Age

Verdun closes his book by drawing a bridge between past and present.
From clay tablets to touchscreens, the act of writing numbers has always evolved alongside humanity.
Even today, the algorithms that govern our digital world are direct descendants of the logic developed by Al-Khwarizmi and his peers.

Yet beyond technology, the author invites readers to reflect on what these symbols truly represent: the universal memory of human intelligence.
By revisiting the origins of our numerals, Do Arabic Numerals Really Come from Arabia? urges us to celebrate not one culture, but the collective genius of humankind.

A Short Book with a Lasting Impact

True to the exclusive Five Minutes format, this mini-book can be read in under ten minutes—but its ideas resonate long after.
In that short time, it takes you across continents and centuries, through a story of science, philosophy, and shared creativity.

Discover Do Arabic Numerals Really Come from Arabia? on FIVE MINUTES and explore the extraordinary history of the numbers that shaped our civilization.