Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
A Philosophy, Science, History book. In Cantor's mind there were an infinite number of infinities-the transfinite numbers-each nested...
The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Church used it to fend off heretics. For centuries, the power of zero savored of the demonic; once harnessed, it became the most important tool in mathematics. Zero follows this number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe and its apotheosis as the mystery of the black hole. Today, zero lies at the heart of one of the biggest scientific controversies of all time, the quest for the theory of everything. Elegant, witty, and enlightening, Zero is a compelling look at the strangest number in the universeૼand one of the greatest paradoxes of human thought.
Download or read Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea in PDF formats. You may also find other subjects related with Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea.
- Filetype: PDF
- Pages: 248 pages
- ISBN: 9780140296471 / 140296476
BkcLaQYOtwW.pdf
More About Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
In Cantor's mind there were an infinite number of infinities-the transfinite numbers-each nested in the other. Aleph 0 is smaller than Aleph 1, which is smaller than Aleph 2, which is smaller than Aleph 3, and so forth. At the top of the chain sits the ultimate infinity that engulfs all other infinities: God, the infinity that defies all comprehension. Charles Seife, Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea See appendix A for a proof that Winston Churchill was a carrot. Charles Seife, Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea The body, the house of the spirit, is under the power of pleasure and pain, explains a god. And if a man is ruled by his body then this man can never be free. Charles Seife, Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
Winner of the PEN/Martha Albrand Award honoring debut nonfiction from American authors, this book traces the history of the number zero from its initial appearances in Babylonian and Mayan mathematics to its widespread acceptance during the Renaissance to its role in advanced sciences. In addition to detailing the history of the numbers... I was in the mood for some math (it had been so long since I read some pop-math literature), and Zero seemed like the perfect tome. Unfortunately, Zero is a little TOO pop-math - it hits on the same "interesting" math and physics tidbits that so many other pop-math and science books do. And while it relates all of its ideas to zero,... 0 + ( It's a book about math. And I read it. ) - ( It took me nine months. )= 0For three weeks after I finished Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, its central figure looked out ominously at me. In that way, Charles Seife was entirely successful in this piece of pop-nonfiction, weaving together the creation of the "zero", its role...
