Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Number of Pages: 256
Published: 2000-09-01
List price: $15.00
ISBN-10: 0140296476
ISBN-13: 9780140296471
A concise and appealing look at the strangest number in the universe and its continuing role as one of the great paradoxes of human thoughtThe Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshiped it, and the Church used it to fend off heretics. Now, as Y2K fever rages, it threatens a technological apocalypse. 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 inno...