Along with Latin America, I also have a personal interest in mathematics. Combining these two interests, I recently learned that the ancient Mayans discovered two important ideas in mathematics. They are positional value and the concept of zero. Today, these two concepts are so effortless to us that it may not seem like a huge discovery. However, two educated civilizations, the Greeks and the Romans, failed to discover the concept before the Mayans. Although we currently use both concepts, our number system is different than the Mayan’s.
Unlike the number system we use, which is based on the number ten, the Maya system is based on the number twenty. This means that the Mayans counted from zero to nineteen before they moved to the next order, while we currently only count to nine. While we learned to count on our fingers, the Mayans must have learned to count using their fingers and toes.
There is also a difference in the symbols we use to count. We recognize a different symbol for each of the ten numbers. On the other hand, the Mayans only used three symbols. They used a shell for zero, a dot for one, and a line for five. For example, to represent the number thirteen, the Mayans would use two lines and three dots.*
The Maya system, in my opinion, was more efficient than the previous systems of the Romans and Greeks. Try to imagine writing a large number using the Roman numeral system in comparison to the new and improved Maya system.
Also, I cannot help but compare our decimal system to the ancient Maya system. I may be a little biased, but I do believe our decimal system is the most efficient system thus far. However, since our system is based off of the Maya system, I feel the need to say thank you ancient Mayans, for making math class easier.
*To see a picture of the symbols used, or to read more about the application of Maya mathematics, follow this link: http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1122-the-maya-civilization-maya-numerals-and-calendar
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Did the Mayans have any special characters for large numbers? For example, the number 1,000... Would it be a one dot to signify the 1 and three shells to signify the zeros? That seems pretty simple, but wouldn't it be difficult to write a more "complicated" number, like 1,237. How would they signify the 1,200? Because if they wrote a dot for the 1 and then two more dots for the 2, wouldn't that just be 3? It seems something like the Roman numeral system would be easier to understand.
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