Editing Number (section)

===Numerals===
{{main|Numeral system}}
Numbers should be distinguished from '''numerals''', the symbols used to represent numbers. The Egyptians invented the first ciphered numeral system, and the Greeks followed by mapping their counting numbers onto Ionian and Doric alphabets.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chrisomalis |first=Stephen |date=2003-09-01 |title=The Egyptian origin of the Greek alphabetic numerals |journal=Antiquity |volume=77 |issue=297 |pages=485–96 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00092541 |s2cid=160523072 |issn=0003-598X }}</ref> Roman numerals, a system that used combinations of letters from the Roman alphabet, remained dominant in Europe until the spread of the superior [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system]] around the late 14th century, and the Hindu–Arabic numeral system remains the most common system for representing numbers in the world today.<ref name="Cengage Learning2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOxl71w-jHEC&pg=PA192 |title=The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History, Volume 1 |last2=Crossley |first2=Pamela |last3=Headrick |first3=Daniel |last4=Hirsch |first4=Steven |last5=Johnson |first5=Lyman |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4390-8474-8 |page=192 |quote=Indian mathematicians invented the concept of zero and developed the "Arabic" numerals and system of place-value notation used in most parts of the world today |first1=Richard |last1=Bulliet |access-date=2017-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128072424/https://books.google.com/books?id=dOxl71w-jHEC&pg=PA192 |archive-date=2017-01-28 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2017}} The key to the effectiveness of the system was the symbol for [[zero]], which was developed by ancient [[Indian mathematics|Indian mathematicians]] around 500 AD.<ref name="Cengage Learning2" />