Eminent writer and Arab historian reveals the flaws in the accepted history of mathematics and elucidates the true origins of the Arabic numeral system.

The world’s civilisation is built on numbers. But what would happen if the numeral system were suddenly to disappear? The Arabic numeric system has remained one of the most mysterious enigmas of human history. Used today by millions of people across the globe, the significance of its success is unimaginable. Yet despite the critical importance of Arabic numerals, the study of its history is littered with inaccuracies and oversights. Many of the accepted theories on its origins remain unsubstantiated. Dispelling over one thousand years of agenda-driven dogma, the elusive story of the Arabic cipher system is finally unveiled. In our most distant past, there is a universal script that is now understood by man, beast and machine. Tracing  its evolution into hand-gesture, trade tools, documentation and algebra, Origin of the Arabic Numerals - A natural history of numbers demonstrates how our species falteringly came to accept a powerful numeric system that has become the root of our success.

In this provocative title, Bishtawi delivers an engaging and accessible explanation of mathematical history, highlighting the crucial tipping points that brought us to the state of existence we live in today. From Europe’s reluctance to accept the number zero, to the importance of clockmakers in disseminating a numeric system, Bishtawi brings to light the fundamental origins and evolution of the most prevalent man-made system on the planet.

 About the Author: Adel S. Bishtawi was born in Nazareth in 1945. He read English Literature at Damascus University and attended a course in Linguistics at the Central London Polytechnic. A journalist since the late 1960s, Bishtawi became Front Page Editor of London’s Al Arab Newspaper, the first pan-Arab Newspaper launched in Europe. Furthermore, he is cofounder of two of the most important Arabic newspapers in London - Asharq Al Awsat and Al-Hayat. For nearly seven years, Bishtawi served as the Central Managing Editor of the Emirates News Agency in Abu Dhabi. Bishtawi has published hundreds of articles and interviews in Arabic and English, as well as several fiction and non-fiction works. A leading expert on Arabic history and culture, he appears regularly on TV shows and participates in conferences and seminars on history, literature, religion, economy and current affairs. Adel S. Bishtawi currently lives in Pembroke, Malta with his wife and two sons.