Customer Reviews

The Nothing that Is: A Natural History of Zero

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Two books discuss the concept of zero. They are "The nothing that Is: A Natural History of Zero" by Robert Kaplan (1999) and "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seiff (2000). The books tackle the same subject but are significantly different in their approach.

Both books recognize the difficulties zero caused to the Greeks and their successors. Kaplan emphasizes the mysticism of zero. His book describes the confusion and avoidance of "nothing" throughout civilized history. While there is a smattering of mathematical concepts, the book is mostly an essay revolving about nihilism. This seems somewhat strange as Robert Kaplan has "taught mathematics to people from six to sixty. He is the co-founder of The Math Circle, a program open to the public for the enjoyment of pure mathematics."

Seiff's story also includes descriptions of mankind's concern over "nothing" but emphasizes the solutions reached by mathematicians. The book is full of mathematical and physical concepts related to zero.

If one is interested in philosophy, read Kaplan. If Math is the desired area, read Seiff.

I've recently read both Charles Seife's "Zero:The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" and Robert Kaplan's "The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero." They are at the same time very similar and very different. They each follow an almost identical line, presenting the evolution of zero chronologically, and they each make almost identical stops along the way. The difference is in how they treat the steps in zero's evolution which is conditioned by their differing metaphysical views. An illuminating example is how they each treat Aristotle's role in zero's history.

Charles Seife, from the beginning, reifies zero: the author accepts the misconception that zero is some sort of actually existing mystical force resting at the center of black holes. He doesn't step back to take a look at the concept as concept. Nor does he appear to keep in mind that mathematics is the science of measurement, or that time is not a force or dimension, but merely a measurement of motion. This distorts his perspective, from which he attempts to refute Aristotle's refutation of the existence of the void: for Seife, zero exists and is a force in and of itself. In Seife's hands, zero certainly is a dangerous idea!

Robert Kaplan, on the other hand, delves deeper. His work is informed by an obvious love for history and classic literature, and while this results in many obscure literary asides, one feels that this book takes part in the Great Conversation. As a result he steps back and takes a critical look at the true meaning and usefulness of the concept as a concept. Is zero a number? Is it noun, adjective, or verb? Does it actually exist outside of conceptual consciousness or is it exclusively a tool of the mind?

Both authors follow zero's role in the development of algebra and the calculus. As a math "infant", this reader, having read Seife's book first, found that the explanations of these two developments by Kaplan cleared away the haze, which Seife's book was unable to do. I found both books to be illuminating. Seife's book contains much valuable historical information. He did his homework. If one were to read only this book on the subject, one would have learned a great deal about the history of mathematics. But if I were to have to choose one to recommend, it would be Kaplan's book. It is more informed, more seasoned, more honestly inductive in its approach.

If for some reason you're jonesin' to read a history of the number zero, I would hie thee away from this book. Read instead Charles Seife's peerless "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea," a very similar book (published around the same time, too) that is much more interesting and far more competently written.

Kaplan's book, while not atrocious, is nevertheless poorly brought off and demands a much stronger math background to enjoy -- despite what the blurb on the cover says.

I will admit, though, that, in addition to being a capable mathematician and scholar, Kaplan has organized and researched his tale well. Fatally, however, the guy can't seem to write in a natural, lucid way.

Here's a sample of the kind of opaque, gummy prose you're in store for if you tackle this book [p. 144]:

"Only selective forgetting of the past lets us move on, taking what was once dubious as the most banal of certainties, what was gained through struggle as our birthright. So with zero. The sermons it spoke in place-holding shrank to a letter of our thinking's alphabet, its volumes on solving equations to a sentence in mathematical primers."

And this is quite typical. Trust me: Seife is much more engaging, useful, and memorable. His book is considerably shorter than Kaplan's, however.

I have no idea how anyone can even REMOTELY link this book to "Western supremancy," since it covers all cultures and periods with equal erudition and respect. The book is at once a philosophical meditation on the concept of zero, an engaging tour guide through the labyrinth of mathematics, an intimate (if highly abbreviated) biography of some of the foremost geniuses of our world, and a zestful and highly anecdotal history of the evolution of one branch of science. What's more, the writing is both sharp and lively (which is more than I can say about most popular-science titles). All in all, I'm very much impressed by this book.

Kaplan's book is a tour de force. Bridging philosophy, history and, oh yes, mathematics, he takes us through a romp of human intellectual history. He makes the argument, that zero, like death, is at the base of a culture's understanding of the world. At the beginning of the book's journey, such a claim would seem outlandish, but by the end, we have returned home throughly convinced and pleased to have made the trip. It is a pleasure to read a creative mind at play.

This book needs a thorough professional editing. I found it exceptionally difficult to read, and I read a lot. What some labeled as "lyrical," I found convoluted and annoyingly rococo. I was able to finish the book by reading it at three pages per sitting: my irritation saturation limit. The mathematics is the easy part; it's the writing style that does it in.

I could not escape the image of a comically theatric high-society tea party. Perfect material for the old silverscreen Hal Roach studios. Some fruitcake is orating to anyone that makes the mistake of wandering within his ten-yard radius, which of course happens for our viewing pleasure. Conjure up your most vaudevillian English accent, then:

"What does it take for an immigrant to the Republic of Numbers to gain citizenship? Think of the situation with words and with ideas. New words are always frisking about us like puppies."

Our wandering cull (Charley Chase?) desperately seeks an escape route but the fruitcake has the capacity to rampage on with his raison d' etre for a couple hundred pages more --- all without taking a breath. Well, you get the idea.

I appreciate the effort and love that Kaplan has put into a very interesting subject. However, I would encourage him to gather up all his earnings from this book and attempt to hire James Burke to re-write it. Until such a revision is advertised, the book is best suited as a gift for somebody you really need to get even with.

I bought this book not expecting it to be such a difficult read. I thought it was about the history of zero; once I started reading, I found out the book was about...well...I have no idea! I wasn't able to finish the book and I stopped about half-way. His writing style is too abstruse, and just arrant nonsence. By the time I got to the middle, I still didn't know where zero came from nor did I care.

Here is an example of his writing:
"Any five-year-old will tell you that negative numbers aren't numbers at all, and phylogeny recapitulated ontogeny in taking its time to recognize negatives."

Don't be afraid! You only need a high school education to enjoy this delightful little book, (though experts will not be bored). Kaplan brings an odd charm and great fun to the story of zero. Serious historians and serious mathematicians should go elsewhere for "learn-ned tomes" on the subject. Those who can relax, kick back and just enjoy, will be rewarded with a fascinating story told with enthusiasm and wit. Kaplan tells more than just the story of zero. He shows how numbers went from adjectives describing collections of objects, to objects themselves, requiring adjectives. How we went from counting boards to numerals, and why. And central to the drama, how we made the conceptual leap from the "absence of something" to the "presence of nothing".

Be sure to put your name in this one before you lend it out. It may not come back.

I write this review not only for its own sake, but to reply to the common complaints about it.

To be fair, it is true that this is not an easy read. However, this is less due to the prose of the author than it is to the great seriousness which he devotes to this concept. The further that you read into this book, the more it is clear that the concept of zero is so interwoven into every fabric of what has created our civilization that it is impossible to discuss it without summoning philosophy, religion, language, art... nothing, as this book shows, is truly in everything.

It is also true that there is no bibliography, and I too would like to look at some of the sources Kaplan uses. However, to say, as some people claim, that Kaplan had an agenda in re-writing history is not at all reinforced by the evidence. As he wades through the murky origins of this number (and concept), he takes pains to give ample amounts of evidence. His result doesn't dictate, but instead lets the reader decide.

Based on the number of 1-star reviews this has gotten, it clearly is not for everyone. However, I worked my way through it, and if I rushed at the end, it was only because I was insistent on finishing it so I could immediately give it to a friend who was interested in this concept as well. This one takes work: but in my opinion, it's a price well paid for a fanastic book on one of the most elusive of concepts.

I abandoned this book after only 50 pages, driven away by the author's relentlessly florid writing style (random sample: "It is tempting to borrow some of this linear imagery and say that, like Goethe's Faust, zero came through its dark struggles by cleaving to the one true way. But history walks on human feet.") This book is my nominee for the year's Purple Prose Prize.