"Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

A simple book written with a chunk of information about the number Zero. That must mean that nothing is something.

Yes, a book about the birth of the number Zero—a number the Greeks avoided because of its unpleasant significance of the Void while the others found it a Godsend. It's almost hard to believe that a simple harmless (*ahem*) number could cause such overbearing, yet an over-intellectualization, of what such a number could represent. Come on guys, it's "just" a number.

Author Charles Seife starts from the very beginning of civilization to when humans tried recording quantities—counting—and its historical background. All throughout, you learn about the famous names and their contributions to Mathematics, from Aristotle to Einstein. And yes, you learn about Aristotle's preachings and how the Greeks did Math without zeroes (talk about difficult, but they seemed to do it). Oddly enough, the Hindus loved Zero because the Void closely relates to their Hindu god Brahma and wholeheartedly welcomed the concept of the number symbolic of "nothing." Along with it, you also learn about Zero's partner, Infinity, and its role in Math.

In addition to the history, author Seife has done a wonderful job in introducing various mathematical concepts and subjects without injecting high-strung vocabulary that may confuse the reader. Even better, he does it in a friendly way so much so that you'll be able to understand, and if in case you're at all interested, he has listed more information on the Appendixes and on his bibliographies. No doubt, Math does take a lot of practice and learning, but books like these are what brings an inspiration to the reader to learn and master the history of problem solving.

Near the end, Seife declares Zero as the ultimate winner in everything—everything. You learn why physicists everywhere try to avoid coming into zero as the finality of all problem solving, and various quirks that keep the Universe running. While I truly understand, it has made me feel a little concerned about the power Zero has had since its "birth." Think about it: philosophers/logicians have said, "There's no such thing as free lunch," which Seife has quoted in the book (also the second law of Thermodynamics). To translate that famous quote, it means you can't get something from nothing. This brings us to a question we still haven't had an answer to: why is there something instead of nothing?

It's not all pure Mathematics but you get a gist of some Physics, Astronomy and Cosmology. Don't be fooled by this small book as it has a lot of information, all in fool-proof, understandable writing that any reader that grasp. Well, okay, perhaps the only prerequisite is you know some Pre-Algebra but that's very much it! I think this little book makes the perfect companion for your Math book library.

Let's admit it: Zero is the perfect number. I'll let you do the thinking for that.

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

👤 About me ✉ Contact me