The Origin of Shunya

Shunya ("zero", "void") and our decimal number system arose in India some 1500 years ago, reaching the West via the Arabs and so came to be called Arabic Numerals. The city of Gwalior, in its Bhojadeva inscriptions, has  the earliest known epigraphic evidence of zero in India.♥  So for all practical purposes, Gwalior may be regarded as the birthplace of zero.♣

The Physics of Shunya

1. Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife

2. The Nothing That Is - A Natural History of Zero by Robert Kaplan

3. All About Nothing by Nina Sabnani (Review by Nimi Kurian)

4. A Brief History of Zero by Kristin McQuillin

5. The Zero Saga by Dr. Hossein Arsham

6. 0 (number) - Wikipedia entry

The Metaphysics of Shunya

1. Shunya, or the "open dimension of being"

2. Shunya is not just a negative conception

3. Shunya, "the Absolute Reality"

♥ "...the first epigraphic evidence for zero occurs in India in the Bhojadeva inscriptions at Gwalior..." -- From an essay titled "Science" by HJJ Winter in A Cultural History of India, edited by AL Basham, OUP, 1997.

♣ In making this case for Gwalior, Shunya feels compelled to lay his cards on the table. He was raised in Gwalior and he stands to gain a measure of pride from this association.