Origin of our Numerals

You may have received an internet email purporting to describe a logical basis for the way our numbers are written.  It provides a compelling case demonstrating that our numerals are based on the number of angles in each numeral.  Sometimes the information is provided in an impressive PowerPoint presentation.

Nevertheless the information is incorrect, no matter how compelling it may seem and how well it’s presented.
See some of the articles below, demonstrating the evolution of our current numbers over hundreds of years through many different cultures:

http://www.archimedes-lab.org/numeral.html
http://www.jefflewis.net/blog/2009/10/origin_of_arabic_numerals_was_1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu%E2%80%93Arabic_numeral_system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numerals

All is not as it looks!

(954)