false 329336 10 The seemingly impossible Zen task--writing a book about nothing--has a loophole: people have been chatting, learning, and even fighting about nothing for millennia. <I>Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea</I>, by noted science writer Charles Seife, starts with the story of a modern battleship stopped dead in the water by a loose zero, then rewinds back to several hundred years BCE. Some empty-headed genius improved the traditional Eastern counting methods immeasurably by adding zero as a placeholder, which allowed the genesis of our still-used decimal system. It's all been uphill from there, but Seife is enthusiastic about his subject; his synthesis of math, history, and anthropology seduces the reader into a new fascination with the most troubling number.<p> Why did the Church reject the use of zero? How did mystics of all stripes get bent out of shape over it? Is it true that science as we know it depends on this mysterious round digit? Zero opens up these questions and lets us explore the answers and their ramifications for our oh-so-modern lives. Seife has fun with his format, too, starting with chapter 0 and finishing with an appendix titled "Make Your Own Wormhole Time Machine." (Warning: don't get your hopes up too much.) There are enough graphs and equations to scare off serious numerophobes, but the real story is in the interactions between artists, scientists, mathematicians, religious and political leaders, and the rest of us--it seems we really do have nothing in common. <I>--Rob Lightner</I> 2372 1 9 2000 Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea total:865|5:190|4:384|3:235|2:45|1:11| 865 3292 1394 171 4 12 false false Fri Mar 27 00:50:55 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 00:03:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 3 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue May 08 12:24:58 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 13 23:47:04 -0700 2007 Zero is the story of the number, the time that elapsed before its acceptance, and how the ideas behind it (the void and its opposite, infinity) shook the ideals of religion and science across the globe. The book advances through time chronologically, from the Greek philosophers through Renaissance ...more...]]> 2 3 false false Sun Oct 18 16:53:01 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 12:12:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jan 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 08:41:45 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 08:44:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Feb 01 18:35:42 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 18:36:52 -0800 2009
]]> 2 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 09 20:39:08 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 09 20:39:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Jan 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 26 08:16:14 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 13 07:05:44 -0800 2009
I think it would have been wonderful to have read in high school or college as it connected so many ideas from ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 08 09:38:24 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 20 22:20:21 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Apr 12 14:07:41 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 13 08:01:37 -0700 2007
But any book that shows the horrible mistake that not having a Year 0 (i.e., 1 BC and 1 AD are adjancent) would have on history as...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 19:37:27 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 19:20:32 -0800 2009
Ok? It was good.
:)

might have to do it again.
think i missed alot with my mind fizzling in and out.
ok, very good.



1/22/09

!!!
AbsOLuTeLy MarVELous !!!
:)
Love it!
... still can't stand it but... WOW!
...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 07 21:53:03 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 19 20:02:59 -0700 2007
It gets into some great...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 07:23:40 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 07:47:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Thu Apr 12 14:11:43 -0700 2007 Thu Apr 12 14:15:51 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 13:18:50 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 12:36:51 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 00:34:19 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 20:20:31 -0700 2009
Zero starts off...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 10:20:34 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 13:04:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 18:15:20 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 21:39:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 14 19:14:15 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 19:17:18 -0800 2008 1 5 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon Apr 14 19:19:15 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 18:48:02 -0700 2008
"Nothing lasts forever, that's why it's eternal" - Ary D. C.]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon Apr 30 09:51:18 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 30 09:51:21 -0700 2007