Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea - Hardcover

Seife, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067088457X ISBN 13: 9780670884575

Publisher: Viking, 2000

Synopsis

Within the concept of zero lies a philosophical and scientific history of Mankind. The Babylonians invented zero, it was banned by the Greeks while on the eve of the Millennium zero was feared to be a timebomb within the world s computer systems. There was a time when zero did not exist, the concept of zero is a relatively recent Eastern concept and for centuries there was a struggle over its very existence. For many cultures zero represented the void and it could prove to undo the framework of logic. It was seen as an alien concept that could shatter the framework of Christianity and science yet European acceptance of zero as a philosophical concept was at the centre of the Renaissance

About this title

Product Description:

A "biography" of the most vexing and troublesome number in human history reveals how the Babylonians invented it, why the Greeks were afraid of it and the Hindus worshipped, the role it played in hunting down heretics in the Middle Ages, and its current place in the Y2K issue. Original.

Review:

This is one of the best-written popular science books to have come this way for quite a while... Seife has a neat turn of phrase, an easy yet respectful familiarity with his subject that helps the maths slip down easily. --Nicholas Lezard, 'The Guardian'

A witty but lucid account... A must for armchair logicians. --'BBC Focus'

A breathless tour of the dangerous idea of zero. --'New Scientist'

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 067088457X
• ISBN 13: 9780670884575
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256
• Illustrator: Zimet Matt