Mathematica is actually 0-based - but with the zero index spot reserved. A list {1, 2, 3}=List[1, 2, 3] could be read as (List 1 2 3) in Lisp style; one can check if you have Mathematica that {1, 2, 3}[[0]] = List.<p>But I think that&#x27;s neither here nor there. Whenever the index has more use than as a label, mathematics starts at zero. Modular arithmetic, polynomials, discrete fourier transformations - for that matter, any discrete approximation of continuous math - all naturally start at zero, and generate lots of -1s in one-based indexing.