How did the concept of zero as a number change the course of human civilization?

The answer

The concept of zero evolved over millennia. Babylonians used a placeholder symbol around 300 BCE, and the Maya independently developed zero by the 4th century CE. But it was Indian mathematician Brahmagupta who, in 628 CE, first treated zero as a number in its own right, defining rules for arithmetic operations involving zero in his treatise Brahmasphutasiddhanta. The oldest known use of a zero digit, a dot in the Bakhshali manuscript, has been carbon-dated to the 3rd or 4th century CE. Arab scholars transmitted Indian numerals westward; Fibonacci introduced them to Europe in 1202 through his book Liber Abaci. Without zero, there would be no binary code, no calculus, no modern computing - arguably making it humanity's most consequential mathematical invention.