Skip to main content

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

by

3 Customer Reviews
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea - Seife, Charles
Filter Results
Shipping
Item Condition
Seller Rating
Other Options
Change Currency
+ Add to Wishlist
Browse related Subjects
+ Browse All Subjects

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Christian Church used it to fend off heretics. Today it's a timebomb ticking in the heart of astrophysics. For zero, infinity's twin, is not like other numbers. It is both nothing and everything. 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 ...

loading
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea 2003, New Millennium Audio

ISBN-13: 9781590073544

Audiobook cassette

 Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea 2000, Penguin Books, New York, NY

ISBN-13: 9780140296471

Trade paperback
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea 2000, Viking Books, New York, NY

ISBN-13: 9780670884575

Hardcover

 Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea 2000, Souvenir Press Ltd

ISBN-13: 9780285635944

Main

Mass-market paperback

All Editions of Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

2003, Audiobook cassette

ISBN-13:

9781590073544

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

2000, Trade paperback

ISBN-13:

9780140296471

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

2000, Hardcover

ISBN-13:

9780670884575

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

2000, Mass-market paperback

ISBN-13:

9780285635944

Books by Charles Seife

Related Books

Customer Reviews

Write a Review

Philk01

May 7, 2010

Nothing and Zero

There is a difference between not having a bank account and having a back account with no money in it. That there are different types of nothing , and how they effected history, was amazing

IanPCook

Apr 4, 2007

Shining example of "microhistory"

Seife's exploration of the concept of zero, from initial difficulties with characterizing "nothing" with a symbol to dealing with the mathematical impacts of what occurs when your system includes an "empty" quantity, is engaging and compelling. As can be said of numerous ideas (in math and elsewhere), the concept of zero seems almost staggeringly obvious in retrospect; this book makes it possible to understand why it wasn't at all trivial. And then continues to show the importance of and interest in dealing with zero in numerous aspects.
I did long for a bit more weight to the book as a whole, but this may be as much a testament to Seife's style than anything else. I would be thrilled to read more detailed exposition of the place of zero in modern mathematics. But that could just be me...

1 Silent Rating

See All Customer Reviews

Alibris BBB Business Review
trustpilot

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Recommendations by Simularity | Accessibility Statement
Copyright © 1998 - 2020 Alibris. All rights reserved.

Alibris, the Alibris logo, and Alibris.com are registered trademarks of Alibris, Inc.

Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited, Baker & Taylor, Inc., or by their respective licensors, or by the publishers, or by their respective licensors. For personal use only. All rights reserved. All rights in images of books or other publications are reserved by the original copyright holders.