The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshiped it, and the Church used it to fend off heretics. Now it threatens the foundations of modern physics. For centuries the power of zero savored of the demonic; once harnessed, it became the most important tool in mathematics. For zero, infinity's twin, is not like other numbers. It is both nothing and everything.
In Zero, science journalist Charles Seife follows this innocent-looking number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe, its rise and transcendence in the West, and its ever-present threat to modern physics. Here are the legendary thinkers—from Pythagoras to Newton to Heisenberg, from the Kabalists to today's astrophysicists—who have tried to understand it and whose clashes shook the foundations of philosophy, science, mathematics, and religion. Zero has pitted East against West and faith against reason, and its intransigence persists in the dark core of a black hole and the brilliant flash of the Big Bang. Today, zero lies at the heart of one of the biggest scientific controversies of all time: the quest for a theory of everything.
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"This was a wonderful perspective on the history and use of zero. Having read many other books about the history of mathematics I couldn't help notice that some points were grossly oversimplified or were described in a way that was misleading. However, overall it was light, entertaining, and provides a unique perspective. It's strength is the discussion of Zeno, atomism, and Aristotle. I would also recommend Finding Zero by Amir Aczel for a completely different perspective and little overlap. "
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The Plebeian (4 out of 5 stars)