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Charles Seife

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea Paperback – September 1, 2000

by Charles Seife (Author)

267 customer reviews

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Popular math at its most entertaining and enlightening. "Zero is really something"-Washington Post

A New York Times Notable Book.

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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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Mathematicians, contrary to popular misconception, are often the most lucid of writers (Bertrand Russell won a Nobel Prize not in mathematics but in literature), and Seife is a welcome example. He writes with an understated charm that takes account of human fear, the mistakes of geniuses and the mind’s grandest ambitions.”
—Atlanta Journal Constitution

“Zero emerges as a daunting intellectual riddle in this fascinating chronicle. With remarkable economy, Seife urges his readers to peer through the zero down into the abyss of absolute emptiness and out into the infinite expanse of space. . . . Deftly and surely, Seife recounts the historical debates, then swiftly rolls the zero right up to the present day, where he plunges through its perilous opening down into the voracious maw of a black hole, and then out into the deep freeze of an ever cooling cosmos. A must read for every armchair physicist.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“His narrative . . . shifts smoothly from history and philosophy to science and technology, and his prose displays a gift for making complex ideas clear.”
—The Dallas Morning News

“Seife keeps the tone as light as his subject matter is deep. By book’s end, no reader will dispute Seife’s claim that zero is among the most fertile—and therefore most dangerous—ideas that humanity has devised. . . . Seife’s prose provides readers who struggled through math and science courses a clear window for seeing both the powerful techniques of calculus and the conundrums of modern physics. . . . In doing so . . . this entertaining and enlightening book reveals one of the roots of humanity’s deepest uncertainties and greatest insights.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Even innumerates . . . can appreciate the intricate web of conceptual connections Seife illuminates.”
—Boston Globe

“The greater part of this book tells a fascinating human story with skill and wit . . . we come to appreciate the surprising depth and richness of ‘simple’ concepts such as zero and infinity—and their remarkable links to the religion and culture of earlier civilizations and to present-day science.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Seife . . . recounts his story as an accomplished science journalist, standing on the outside to bring clarity to complex ideas. . . . the crisp explanations are refreshing . . . straightforward and bright.”
—The New York Times

“Seife has a talent for making the most ball-busting of modern theories . . . seem fairly lucid and common sensical.”
—Salon

About the Author

Charles Seife is the author of five previous books, including Proofiness and Virtual Unreality. He has written for a wide variety of publications, including The New York Times, Wired, New Scientist, Science, Scientific American, and The Economist. He is a professor of journalism at New York University and lives in New York City.

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Product details

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (September 1, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140296476
ISBN-13: 978-0140296471
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 267 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #64 in Philosophy History & Survey
- #28 in Popular & Elementary Arithmetic (Books)
- #32 in Mathematics History

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yep-ok

Great

January 11, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Really good.

I have read all the comments, because I wanted to potentially assign this book as reading for my undergraduate mathematics courses. The low ratings have some very good points, but let's face it... this is a pop-history of zero, not a graduate thesis, or a mathematical proof.

Here are my interpretations after reading the book and reviewing the comments:
1. I see some math-sticklers really hate this book. If you want a math book that is full of equations or a text book, this is NOT for you
2. If you want a light-hearted and fun introduction to how math developed with cultures and customs, this book is fantastic--at least through chapter six. (It takes a turn afterwards and moves toward the number 3 point below.)
3. Remember the title of this book--that should indicate that the author is taking a concept (a simple mathematical one) and stretching the interpretation so that this concept becomes something more meaningful and awesome.

To accomplish number 3, the author takes liberties in analyzing and interpreting past events to create the "dangerous idea" through chapter 6. These are then synthesized into the final cosmological nature of this philosophically "dangerous idea" in the remaining chapters.

The final product was educational, fun, and thought-provoking.

35 people found this helpful

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Enormous idea

December 25, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Zero misbehaves. Refusing to change like other promiscuous numbers. It even opposes infinity. Here goes my favorite quote. “Multiplying by zero collapses the infinite number line. But dividing by zero destroys the entire framework of mathematics”. Powerful zero. Ancient Greeks couldn't handle it. And Charles did a great job showing the implications of zero on philosophy + state-of-the-art, particularly on number theory and physics (say thermodynamics, quantum mechanics and astrophysics). Thrilling zero. Because the whole text is well illustrated with ingenuous analogies; I was reading it at sunny Cape Town and couldn't put zero down for nothing (0 = 0, QED). For example, I have been chewing countable/uncountable infinities for years (Cantor’s alephs). Until Charles asked: If you throw a dart at the number line, what are you going to hit? Irrationals! Damn, they are all over the place. And there are much more such examples in this book (say absolute zero in thermodynamics and black holes in astrophysics). Impressive zero… seems that even the whole universe started from it.

7 people found this helpful

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JRap

Thought provoking and enjoyable

July 20, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The book starts with the history of zero and ends with some of the complex physics that came to be because of the number 0. Part philosophical but all math, I couldn't wait to get to the next page because of all the drama that is 0. For those not so mathematically inclined, the first half of the book will be nice history with philosophers and scientists that we all learned about in school from the perspective of zero. It explains well how math was created and how the classes we took in school came to be. The second half demonstrates how zero has been used to explain the laws of physics.

8 people found this helpful

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J. A.

Interesting...

November 2, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Interesting book and concept. Had lots of higher level math and physics that might go over some heads. Didn’t really go into much detail about why the concept of zero is dangerous or the consequences of its inception and use. Seemed more like apologetics for its use than an explanation for why it is so dangerous. Overall, learned a few things I didn’t know before. Now would like to actually find more info/books on the concept of zero.

3 people found this helpful

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Jeffrey

Everything you ever wanted to know about Zero and it's cousin Infinity

February 4, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

What a fun read and listen. While the book would more correctly be called Zero and Infinity since it's much about 1/0 as it is about zero itself and even delves into the Cantor Continuum and the Hilbert Hotel, I must say it's a fun survey of the evolution of numbers from the first Cuneiform null placeholder to the power of zero to the power of infinity in defining the set of all Integers and the bigger infinity of the Reals. All in all, a thuroughly fun read!

5 people found this helpful

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MoeC

Really Enjoyed This Book

November 16, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A very interesting and well written book. Its amazing how the ancient civilizations and religions treated the idea of nothingness (0) and the infinite. You have to wonder where humans would be now if the ideas weren't considered so dangerous for millennia!
This book reminds me a lot of "Cosmos", Carl Sagan. Now I'm looking for similar books. Until then, I think I will re-read Cosmos.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

nothing to hard to know

August 18, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

No mater how much we talk about it, no matter how much we take it for granted, no matter that for most of humanities ages it was not even a concept; zero is difficult, unusual and metaphysical. I do no think that anyone can truly understand zero. This book makes the best attempt possible at trying to give everyone at good glimpse of the comcept/reality(??) of zero. Jim Grotkowski

3 people found this helpful

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Elijah

First Half Develops Zero, Second Half Discusses Physics

January 9, 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The first half of the book discusses the origins of zero and how it developed in the East via the acceptance of "The Void" and was later picked up by learned Westerners.

The second half of the book, having learned the origins of zero, discusses zero's significance to physics. In fact, you realize quickly that it was through zero that we came to develop physics, via Newton's calculus.

Overall I enjoyed the book. I thought the author did a good job breaking down very complicated ideas within physics.
While it was fun to travel with the author as he traced the spawning of zero throughout history, I do think there are moments of silly, possibly ignorant propositions. That is, I think the author made some statements that many others would disagree with. Nevertheless, I appreciate the time that went into this book and would recommend.

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