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Zero: The Biography Of A Dangerous Idea

by Charles Seife

3.86 · rating details · 1,903 ratings · 302 reviews

The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Christian Church used it to fend off heretics. Seife, a US correspondent for the international magazine New Scientist, follows the number zero from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe and its apotheosis as the mystery of a black hole. He d...more

Hardcover, 248 pages

Published by Viking Books (first published September 1st 2000)

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Mar 29, 2011

Δx Δp ≥ ½ ħ htgkvkkviholmvobsvzighxofyyzmw rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: across-the-universe

Ketika Leonardo da Pisa (kelak dikenal juga sebagai Fibonacci) memperkenalkan angka nol ke Eropa, dia banyak dihujat kaum terpelajar di sana. Alasannya, selain angka tersebut berasal dari negeri kaum kafir, Arab (sebenarnya awal mula sejarah angka nol berasal dari peradaban Hindu, tapi diadaptasi, 'dipermudah', dan 'diperluas' oleh ilmuwan arab Al-Khawarizmi), orang2 Eropa juga merasa terancam oleh kehadiran angka ini. Dengan hadirnya angka nol, bisa dikatakan sistem numeral Romawi yang terdisi ...more

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Aug 13, 2007

Jamie B. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: mathy people

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 paintings through Einstein's relativity, ending with speculations on string theory. And yes, all of this is fantasia on the theme of the number zero.

I didn't expect this book to be so mat...more

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Oct 19, 2009

Trevor rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science, maths

I’m not sure if this book quite worked out what it wanted to be. Besides getting to say, ‘and that is the power of zero’, over and over again it wasn’t quite sure where it should pitch itself and the guy writing it was never quite certain how much back knowledge he could rely on his audience actually having. This meant subjects were generally treated too cursory so I was left thinking ‘wait a second, what happened there?’. His discussion of Gauss was very complicated and hard to follow (not ne...moreI’m not sure if this book quite worked out what it wanted to be. Besides getting to say, ‘and that is the power of zero’, over and over again it wasn’t quite sure where it should pitch itself and the guy writing it was never quite certain how much back knowledge he could rely on his audience actually having. This meant subjects were generally treated too cursory so I was left thinking ‘wait a second, what happened there?’. His discussion of Gauss was very complicated and hard to follow (not nearly as interesting as Euclid's Window The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace – A book I mentally compared this to throughout) but then, bizarrely, he went into a fairly detailed description of the Doppler effect, for instance. This book would have benefited from being edited by someone who knew virtually nothing about science. And they could have written on the sides of the page either ‘oh, I see’ or ‘WTF?’

There are many interesting little bits to all this that made it worthwhile, though – the stuff on Pythagoras was interesting – I didn’t know he didn’t eat beans because they make people fart and because they look like little genitals (I’ve never really looked closely enough at beans to notice this resemblance, to be honest, but it does sound as good a reason for a food aversion as any other, I guess). I also didn’t know he was killed because he refused to cross a field of beans (makes my rantings about only going into McDonalds to use their toilets – I only make deposits, no withdrawals - sound perfectly enlightened, if you ask me).

There were also interesting bits about vanishing points being zeros and therefore the relationship between space and zero being something non-trivial – but all of that stuff is handled much more interestingly in The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace A History of Space from Dante to the Internet (even if I still have problems with the last bits of that book).

Look, it wasn’t a bad book – but I felt it struggled due to feeling it had to make zero the core concept of all of science. This is a trend in this sort of book – you know, pick something (nutmeg or coffee or space) and show it as the nexus through which all strands of the universe can be understood. Generally, this is handled better than it has been handled here though.

PS - I hadn't realised this is the same guy who wrote Decoding the Universe How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes - suddenly, things make much more sense.(less)

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Feb 25, 2009

Tim rated it

· review of another edition

Seife, a science writer, leads us down the rabbit hole we term 'zero'. The mathematical history of the number follows a convoluted path, early on a place-holder in counting systems or a much-feared void forbidden by belief on pain of death. Eventually the path leads to infinity which, like its twin zero, figures the limit of human experience. For Seife this means that nature - described in its native language of mathematics - breaks completely with possible human experience at zero and infini...more

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Feb 01, 2009

David rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: history-of-science, non-fiction

This book made me want to actually learn calculus. At least until the brain fever wore off. :)

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Mar 17, 2011

Kaion rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

0
+ ( It's a book about math. And I read it. ) - ( It took me nine months. )
= 0

For three weeks after I finished Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, its central figure looked out ominously at me. In that way, Charles Seife was entirely successful in this piece of pop-nonfiction, weaving together the creation of the "zero", its role in history of mathematical theory, its religious controversies, its philosophical significance and ultimately, its true place at the...more

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Jan 09, 2008

Tung rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Winner of the PEN/Martha Albrand Award honoring debut nonfiction from American authors, this book traces the history of the number zero from its initial appearances in Babylonian and Mayan mathematics to its widespread acceptance during the Renaissance to its role in advanced sciences. In addition to detailing the history of the number’s usage in the mathematics systems of various cultures, the book attempts to tie the concept of zero to more fundamental philosophical struggles that have accomp...more

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Jan 13, 2009

Malina rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: math

I enjoyed reading this book. Seife has a nice way of writing and the connections between the history, the math, the arts, the sciences are all wonderful to read and think about.

I think it would have been wonderful to have read in high school or college as it connected so many ideas from various classes. It wasn't a quick or easy read especially toward the end with theories of string theory and such but Seife makes it approachable enough with analogies. It was an interesting thing to ...more

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Dec 20, 2007

TJ rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: People who can tell the difference between numbers and letters.

Mind-blowing mathematical literature. That is, if you don't mind having your brain fellated formulaically. Okay, stupid joke aside; this book meets minimum prose competency for making the story of zero, and mathematics, interesting and engaging. After finishing the book, I actually spent two hours giving myself basic algebra problems to see if I could still solve them. This is a good book to read on a whim, any intentions for it more serious will result in disappointment. (In other words, it...more

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Apr 13, 2007

Gene rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: tk, william, dwayne

Shelves: science, good

A book about numbers that had me laughing out loud while I was on vacation. My wife could not understand how a book about math could make me laugh so much...

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 well as subtraction mistakes, how infinity is really is zero's tricky friend, and make almost understandable the reason why the amazing equation "e ^ (pi * i) = -1" is true is pretty fantas...more

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Dec 13, 2011

Victor Wong rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: new-advisory-teacher-shelf

this book was mainly about how the origin of the number zero came to be. it also talks about the how the development of science connects to it. it talks about the development of numbers and math, also what some people thought of this revolutionary idea of the number zero.

the message of the book that i thought of was that even if an idea or something that's very small can still have a big effect on the world no matter the size of what it is. its like to me that when someone tries to c...more

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May 15, 2011

Deb rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-books-read, nonfiction

At a recent teacher-training, the presenter shared the opening of this book as an example of excellent nonfiction writing. He shared the first few pages and went on to describe the book as an interesting read. I have to concur. Charles Seife takes the idea of zero and illustrates how the concept has developed over time. From a computer snafu that endangered an aircraft carrier, to geometry, physics, and highly abstract mathematics, the idea of zero has had a worldview altering effect. Thi...more

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Mar 15, 2011

Woodge rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mathematics, non-fiction

Whoa. This book appealed to the science/math geek in me. Less than 200 pages long, I found Zero to be mostly interesting. I read it quickly after all. For the most part, this book was fairly easy to understand but I may have gotten lost in a few places (like string theory and set theory for example -- and I'm pretty sure I understood the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle). For the record, it's the ancient Babylonians who are credited with inventing zero, although the Mayans used it too. Sor...more

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Sep 16, 2010

Parksy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Very cool book on numbers and the history of the number ZERO!

Amazon.com
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. Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, 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 impro...moreVery cool book on numbers and the history of the number ZERO!

Amazon.com
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. Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, 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.

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. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly
In a lively and literate first book, science journalist Seife takes readers on a historical, mathematical and scientific journey from the infinitesimal to the infinite. With clever devices such as humorously titled and subtitled chapters numbered from zero to infinity, Seife keeps the tone as light as his subject matter is deep. By book's end, no reader will dispute Seife's claim that zero is among the most fertile--and therefore most dangerous--ideas that humanity has devised. Equally powerful and dangerous is its inseparable counterpart, infinity, for both it and zero invoke to many the divine power that created an infinite universe from the void. The power of zero lies in such a contradiction, and civilization has struggled with it, alternatively seeking to ban and to embrace zero and infinity. The clash has led to holy wars and persecutions, philosophical disputes and profound scientific discoveries. In addition to offering fascinating historical perspectives, Seife's prose provides readers who struggled through math and science courses a clear window for seeing both the powerful techniques of calculus and the conundrums of modern physics: general relativity, quantum mechanics and their marriage in string theory. In doing so, Seife, this entertaining and enlightening book reveals one of the roots of humanity's deepest uncertainties and greatest insights(less)

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Jan 24, 2010

Ben Babcock rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-read, history, mathematics, non-fiction, own, science, philosophy

My grade 11 math teacher gave this to me, and I remember reading it and loving it. Here I am, three years later, returning to Zero for a second read. No longer the gullible high school student (now a gullible university student!), I'm apt to be more critical of Zero. Nevertheless, it stands up to a second reading and both inspires and informs.

Imagining a world without zero is probably difficult for most people. It was especially difficult for me, as a mathematician who grew up le...moreMy grade 11 math teacher gave this to me, and I remember reading it and loving it. Here I am, three years later, returning to Zero for a second read. No longer the gullible high school student (now a gullible university student!), I'm apt to be more critical of Zero. Nevertheless, it stands up to a second reading and both inspires and informs.

Imagining a world without zero is probably difficult for most people. It was especially difficult for me, as a mathematician who grew up learning calculus and understanding that zero is just another number. Even with Charles Seife leading the way in the first chapter, I still have trouble comprehending this idea that entire civilizations rose and fell—and achieved great things in between—without the concept of a mathematical zero.

In that respect, Zero acts as a history of the development of an idea, one that began in Babylonia and spread, via Alexander the Great, to India, where it flourished. Seife's history is necessarily balanced between East and West in this case, as it's impossible to discuss mathematics without discussing India. That being said, I would have liked to learn about how China regarded zero, even if Chinese mathematicians contributed no new developments to the number's importance as their absence from this book seems to imply. This one oversight overlooked, Zero is not your typical history book that starts in ancient Egypt or Greece and insists everything we know flows from there.

What's admirable about Zero is Seife's ability to focus on zero. The story intersects with the lives of many famous mathematicians, but the obvious slimness of this book testifies that Seife managed to distill only what was necessary about their lives in his quest to explain the mystery of zero. I'm not trying to imply, "Short books are easier for non-mathematical people to understand," but that's part of the attraction. Although it's heavier on the equations than I remembered, I would still feel comfortable recommending Zero to my non-mathematically-inclined friends. Firstly, Seife's writing is accessible, even when loaded with equations. As long as you have some basic arithmetic left over from high school, you can follow along. And I'd definitely recommend this book to high school students, like I was when I first read it: it's one of those books that opens the mind. Secondly, the narrow focus acts like a window into the history of mathematics. I have A History of Mathematics sitting next to Zero on my desk, and while the former is more complete, I somehow suspect the latter is more appropriate for a general audience. In other words, Zero is a good gateway drug.

Where Zero starts to show its seams is in Seife's rhetorical ability, which stretches itself thin even over so thin a volume. He's too dramatic for my taste, especially as he recounted the attitudes and fate of the Pythagoreans. And he's always eager to remind us of how "powerful" zero is. While I agree that zero is a pretty cool number, the constant refrain felt somewhat forced after a while, pulling me out of the book instead of keeping me comfortably ensconced in this little tutorial. Seife devotes only cursory glances at the philosophical arguments offered for or against the acceptance of zero; he tells us about Aristotle's rejection of zero but goes into little detail. While I'm sure he wanted to avoid turning the book into a text on Aristotelian philosophy, I feel like there are gaps here that, if not filled, could have been covered with a more attractive carpet.

Not perfect, not as mind-blowing as some mathematical literature I've read, Zero makes it mark because it's adequate at explanation without going overboard. I'm not sure what else to say: if you're interested in the subject, this is a good place to start. And even if you're not, hey, it's only 250 pages. What have you got to lose? Nothing. Zero!(less)

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Jan 22, 2009

Rah~ri rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: yes-every-one-should-read-this

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!

So Much Information, my mind Loves it!
Don't ask me to quote any of it, you'll have to read it,
wish I was actually able to converse about this stuff, LOL.

Am thinking this...more

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Aug 19, 2007

Marc Lacuesta rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: The underground scientist at Area 51 in Independence Day.

Interesting story. I enjoyed reading the history behind the number, but I have to admit that there were times where my eyes were rolling into the back of my head, and I was fighting to get to the end of the chapter (usually the math-intensive parts... not my bag).

It gets into some great ideas that were made possible by the number zero, such as time travel. It even includes a scientific proof (also made possible by zero) that concludes that Winston Churchill was a carrot.

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Oct 09, 2011

Hope rated it

· review of another edition

I found this book by accident at the library, the title intrigued me. When I started to read I could not stop reading it was so interesting. I had no idea that number zero had such an interesting history and how much we take it for granted. Seriously how many of us think about zero and what it means in mathematical or physical sense. I know I never thought about it, but now that I know more about zero and what it means.

Book was very well written and it was intended for audience t...more

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Feb 21, 2010

Raj rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, pop-science

This was a book about the history of zero and infinity. From its invention in Babylon, through its suppression in Greece and in the west during the Middle Ages to its flourishing in India and the Middle East and reintroduction in Europe in the Renaissance. Seife covers the history of the zero with an admirable narrative, showing how it is intimately tied with infinity before going on to discuss the most important occurrences of zero in maths (including calculus) and physics (the big bang, zero p...more

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Oct 25, 2011

drea rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, not-for-me

Well, well, well, math. So we meet again. I have done a fantastic job avoiding you for the last ten years, but I knew it couldn't last forever. Still, I wasn't expecting you to come for me in the guise of a pick for our book club. Well played, math. Well. Played.

Basically, I think this is probably a fine book and worthy of more than the "It was okay" rating I am giving. It has lots of pictures and illustrations and appendices, and I am assuming that they mean something. On...moreWell, well, well, math. So we meet again. I have done a fantastic job avoiding you for the last ten years, but I knew it couldn't last forever. Still, I wasn't expecting you to come for me in the guise of a pick for our book club. Well played, math. Well. Played.

Basically, I think this is probably a fine book and worthy of more than the "It was okay" rating I am giving. It has lots of pictures and illustrations and appendices, and I am assuming that they mean something. One of them, in theory, even explains how through the power of the dangerous zero, you can make an equation that proves Winston Churchill is a carrot. I would have truly liked to understand that! However, nowhere in this book does Donald Duck leap out of the pages and explain the The Golden Ratio to you a la Mathmagic Land, and that proved to be the downfall of this book and me. Not gonna lie--when I got to the section about calculus, I was overcome by the the old feeling of having a test the next day and not knowing what a differential equation was, and maybe Mr. Taylor would make it a group test and I could force my ex-boyfriend to be my partner and not have to know? God, that's going be a hard email to write. STRESS. STRESS.

Where was I? Oh yes. All that said, the early chapters did come with some interesting history sprinkled around all of the equations. I never really noticed the links of old-school Judeo-Christian thought to Aristotle and his rejection of the infinite or the void. I also never realized that the Catholic Church was actually embracing new thinkers until Martin Luther decided to upset the apple cart and they went scrambling back to their traditions and finger-pointing at heretics. These sections were a little textbookish and occasionally hyperbolic ("Zero is dangerous! Zero will ROCK YOUR WORLD. Zero may kill your children!") but I think the info will stick with me.

But, in the end, if a=level of book enjoyment, and b=feelings of stupidity, and c=interesting tidbits, then A = c-b will probably give you a negative number . . . which I know we only have thanks to Eastern thought! Also, Winston Churchill is a carrot.

(less)

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Feb 25, 2010

Eric Rasmussen rated it

· review of another edition

I was in the mood for some math (it had been so long since I read some pop-math literature), and Zero seemed like the perfect tome. Unfortunately, Zero is a little TOO pop-math - it hits on the same "interesting" math and physics tidbits that so many other pop-math and science books do. And while it relates all of its ideas to zero, it's not really about zero.

The first half does talk about the historical context of the concept of zero, but it is mostly about philosophy - ...more

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May 14, 2009

Ratiocination rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mathematics

A neat subject, and a lot of seemingly disparate information pulled together. I came in with a passing familiarity with a lot of the underlying math. I'm sure the book would have read very differently with either more background or less, but from my perspective it took ideas that were individually familiar and described how they linked up and how they were derived from one another.

As a history of mathematics, though, the math is definitely stronger than the history. Seife is good at ...more

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May 22, 2011

Gabriel rated it

· review of another edition

This marks the second book I've read about the number zero (the first being The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero). This of course begs the question, why is there not only one book about this number, but two? And are there more out there? And what doe they hope to illuminate that the rest don't?

In the opinion of the author, Charles Seife, the reason why 0 is so important is that it has been at the heart of almost (well, he argues every ...) every paradigm shift that we've...moreThis marks the second book I've read about the number zero (the first being The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero). This of course begs the question, why is there not only one book about this number, but two? And are there more out there? And what doe they hope to illuminate that the rest don't?

In the opinion of the author, Charles Seife, the reason why 0 is so important is that it has been at the heart of almost (well, he argues every ...) every paradigm shift that we've seen. It is humanity's aversion to "nothingness/void" that scared (and scares) folks from zero but the simplicity of it that keeps us coming back. Somehow, 0 keeps coming up and we always need to use it. Scientists and Mathematicians and Philosophers and even the Pope tried/try to deny it, but it doesn't stay away for long ...

All this makes for fascinating reading. This book is very simply written and goes through many analogies to explain the difficult mathematics and scientific topics that it deems significant (most of which will be understandable to anyone with at least high school mathematics - up through Algebra/Geometry though Algebra 2 helps). To revisit all the different aspects of mathematics (first 6/7 chapters) is great and Charles Seife does an excellent job of clarifying 0's role in the advancement of mathematics. Also, I'm a huge proponent of getting the history of mathematics out there and this book does a great job of selecting interesting stories that explain the madness that created the math we take for granted today.

The science it describes is still new; apparently dealing with 0 (or at least what the author would describe the interesting aspects of 0 - multiplication and division) is something that science avoided until it couldn't anymore. And even now scientists are looking for ways to avoid 0 and infinity - at least that is how Seife explains String Theory.

Here's the issue.

At its core, this book is about how humanity must accept 0, that the truth of the universe is within our grasp when we use and look at 0. It helped reshape the solar system ideas and art and brought along such concepts as infinity (and countable infinities) and more. Every time that it has been banished, no good has come from the banishment and it would reassert itself. YET String Theory "banishes" 0 and infinity away and somehow works. Charles Seife is wise enough to treat the theory with a grain of salt - it still can't be observed so it can't go through the scientific rigors of being proven - but it is still presented as a culmination of knowledge. 0's power to banish the "proof of God" (through the Aristotelian theories of harmonic spheres) is almost deemed a step forward in mankind. Sure, Seife then goes on to show Pascal's "best bet" idea (mainly that the odds are in your favor if you are a Christian when you die), but it still doesn't erase the subtext that a religious viewpoint is ignorant. Somewhere, though, these two ideas clash. If the banishment of 0 in one place is deemed a step forward and the banishment of 0 in another is a step back ... where are we?

The other piece about this book that I found hard to swallow is the core thesis. 0 is the heart of every paradigm shift? I agree that the mathematical implications of 0 were key to many developments and that the philosophical implications of those mathematics also were strong opponents to the addition of 0 in the numbers allowed ... but math is not the center of the world's viewpoints and neither is science. They are tools that are used to explain the world, but not used by everyone. In fact, going to any of the time periods discussed in this book and asking a random person on the street about the mathematics being described would probably give you quotes akin to what you get today, "I just don't get math." The view of the people doesn't just change when a mathematician adds a number to the number line. There is much more at play.

Yes, this book is good and reading about the philosophical impact of 0 is cool. Reading the history of mathematics and a brief description of recent science discoveries is cool too. Having it written is so fluid a language is also key to creating an enjoyable time. However, I think Charles Seife is putting a little too much emphasis on nothing (sorry, couldn't help myself).(less)

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Apr 12, 2007

TK rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: math-study, thinkingtools

I agree that this was a great book. When I was reading it, I thought what a wonderful experience it would be if the walls between Mathmatics, History, Social Science, and English weren't so high, this type of learning could take place in a middle school setting. If I had read this book when i was in middle school, I would have been wagging my tail in math class every day.

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Feb 07, 2010

Mike Mac rated it

· review of another edition

While the idea of reading a book about a number may not seem very sexy, 'Zero' author Charles Seife balances history, science, and humor in a tale that drives home the importance of context and gives weight to its subject. Both easy-going and informative, Zero explores the history of mathematics from both a scientific and social perspective. The impact of 'zero' and 'infinite' as concepts and as values in a number system extends from ancient religion to modern physics and manages stops everywh...more

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May 23, 2009

Mike rated it

· review of another edition

Very well-written, very well-structured as I expected having read one of his later books before this. Presents the concept and meaning of zero in many ways, at many levels. Liked how he applied concrete examples to a concept that extends downwards and upwards beyond our normal "sensible" 3-D world.

It gives one a nice foretaste of his later book on cosmology, "Alpha and Omega". (The book I had previously read and enjoyed.)

Another side bonus, it confi...more

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Jun 28, 2009

David rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science-mathematics

So, being the inquisitive nerd I am, I picked up Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, solidifying my place in the front of the classroom. What I found was a concise, elegant, intellectual history of how a dubious, yet indelible part of our modern world came into being.

Zero starts off with the panache of a Dan Brown thriller, full of mysterious, secret societies attempting to squash the very notion of the null. I was a little skeptical regarding this, as who cogitates the number z...more

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Jun 19, 2009

Julie rated it

· review of another edition

I loved reading this book about the history of zero. It took me from philosophy to mathematics to religion. Then back to mathematics and calculus and on to physics. All truth seemed to be circumsized (circular and spiraling) into one great whole (or hole as the case may be). It was a great review and explanation of a lot of my college science classes and then beyond that. These are great ideas...discoveries of truth and coming to understand God. The best part? Knowing God...that it is not ...more

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Mar 25, 2009

Joshua rated it

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The concept of zero has always intrigued me. How did the ancients manage without it? Why did it originate in the east and why did it take so long to catch on in the west? Charles Seife answers all of these questions and many more I didn't even know to ask. He takes us from the times before zero (It simply wasn't needed. You don't start counting with zero of anything.), through it's genesis and maturation and on into its affect on sub-atomic particles and black holes.

Seife is a...more

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Dec 14, 2008

Ron Horner rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: history, math-and-science

This is not just a book for people that enjoy math. It is a popular history, written in a way that should be accessible and enjoyable to people of all levels of math background.

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About Charles Seife

CHARLES SEIFE is a Professor of Journalism at New York University. Formerly a journalist with Science magazine, has also written for New Scientist, Scientific American, The Economist, Science, Wired UK, The Sciences, and numerous other publications. He is the author of Zero: The Biography Of A Dangerous Idea, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction. He holds an M.S. in mathemat...more

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Books by Charles Seife

Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception

Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes

Alpha and Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe

Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking

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title link	preview: Zero: The Biography Of A Dangerous Idea
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64829.Zero?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170624774m/64829.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64829.Zero?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Zero: The Biography Of A Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife[/url]

Zero: The Biography Of A Dangerous Idea

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