Finding Zero: A Mathemetician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.37 (658 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B00RDN9XQE |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 594 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-04-20 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Aczel has doggedly crisscrossed the ancient world, scouring dusty, moldy texts, cross examining so-called scholars who offered wildly differing sets of facts, and ultimately penetrating deep into a Cambodian jungle to find a definitive proof. There he is blown away to find the earliest zero - the keystone of our entire system of numbers - on a crumbling, vine-covered wall of a seventh-century temple adorned with eaten-away erotic sculptures. The invention of numerals is perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. The story of how and where we got these numerals, which we so depend on, has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery. The history begins with the early Babylonian cuneiform numbers, followed by the later Greek and Roman letter numerals. Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. The story of how we got our numbers - told through one mathematician's journey to find zero. Finding Zero is an adventure-filled saga of Amir Aczel's lifelong obsession: to find the original sources of our numerals. Then Aczel asks the key question: Where do the numbers we use today, the so-called Hindu-Arabic numerals, come from? It is this search that leads him to explore uncharted territory, to go on a grand quest into India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and ultimately into the wilds of Cambodia. While on this odyssey, Aczel meets a host of fascinating characters: academics in search of truth, jungle trekkers looking for ad
an engaging read Once my physicist husband pointed out to me—many years ago—that zero is magical, I've been fascinated by it, and Dr. Aczel's book fills the bill admirably. I especially like his discussions of the differences between Western and Eastern logic, set theory and the Void and Infinity. His description of concepts of Buddhism and Hinduism ring true to me, even if I am irredeemably stuck in the Western linear mode. His own passion (obsession?) with finding zero is charmingly and deeply portrayed, . The Search for a Stele Timothy Haugh No one who cares about mathematics at all is ignorant of the importance of the invention of zero. (The strains of the Schoolhouse Rock song “My Hero, Zero” sound in my head even as I write these words.) I was always taught that the concept of zero was an Indian invention that ultimately made its way into the “Arabic” numerals and, so, to the West. Though Mr. Aczel doesn’t completely upset the apple cart with his new book, Finding Zero, he attempts to tell a story that is d. Amazon Customer said that patiently unfold ideas about the world through a good story. This book does does that. Maybe I'm partial to books that patiently unfold ideas about the world through a good story. This book does does that, following Professor Aczel from his earliest interest in numbers and mentoring from a wonderful guide through his engaging and thought provoking adventures in pursuit of a foundational idea. Thanks so much for enriching my experience of math, religion/ philosophy, and the human condition.