Negative Numbers Through History
Three cultures meet −6: China sees a debt, India a displacement, and 17th-century Europe a witch and a liar.
Use this cartoon
Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.
Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2021-01-01-negative-numbers-through-history/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)Transcript
[China, 3rd Century] "Oh, I see! You're a debt!" [India, 12th Century] "Oh, I see! You're a displacement!" [Europe, 17th Century] "Oh, I see. You're a WITCH and a LIAR"