Rating: 
Summary: Jumbled mess of ideas
Review: A very interesting book. The Author shows how mindsets, philosophies and cultures had to change to enable the Zero to be accepted. The West overlooked then resisted the idea of zero.
When the zero idea took hold and was finally accepted it affected everything from Aristoteloism, to commerce, to Art. Even the biblical creation stories took on a different light.
Art in the West during the Renaissance gained a major improvement
as the sense of perspective was developed. This vanishing point within a painting is the equivalnt of the introduction of Zero into the art world .
I would read other books by this author, interesting history, The book moves right along, I like the Author's style, plenty of background, but always stayed the coure. I believe an audio book
is probably not the correct format for this information. I would have liked to have seen the test portraying some of the
equtions.
Rating: 
Summary: A most engaging of books
Review: Charles Seife has written an excellent book on the concept of zero. An idea that had been taken for granted for years. No one really understand the meaning of the value of the concept of zero at first, but once contemplated, the concept is quite ingenious.
I thought Seife did a very admirable job introducing the concept, following along on the chronology and explaining why it was such a devious and subversive concept to the church and to philosophy in general. I found his explanations lucid and clear and the history is quite interesting. The chapter on projective geometry was particularly enlightening.
Where he really shines is when he coupled zero with infinity. I have always had a real problem with the relativity concept, even when I was studying physics. But Seife does an excellent job explaining all of the ideas. Where he falters is where he tries to make the connection between the numbers with the theories of modern physics, perhaps it is the problem with the concept of superstrings that bogs the narrative down into the morass of incomprehention, but the narrative does bog down when it enters this section. Since Brian Green has written a much bigger and thicker book on the subject of superstrings, I would hazard to guess that the fault does not lie with Seife but with the subject, which is, by the way, a sub-area of the book, so I wouldn't worry about it. Even if no one understands the connection between modern physics and zero, the book is a rewarding read.
Rating:
Summary: Zero is fundamental
Review: Despite the abstract nature of it's subject matter, this book is a surprisingly breezy and informative read about the history of zero and it's value in the mathematics (and scientific) revolutions of the 1600s and still today. It's part history, part math primer, and part practical guide, with the later chapters focussing on how the zero is used in physics and astronomy. Seiff has an engaging style and he doesn't talk down or talk above the reader. Although Seiff obviously is an expert in difficult math, he doesn't overwhelm you with equations or get too abstract. Even sections on trig and calculus are written in everyday language that you can easily follow. The book does begin to trail off at Chapter 7-8, from here much of the book seems like filler. I preferred "The Nothing That Is" (also about the zero number) a little because I was more interested in the history and that book covers it more, but Seiff still does a fine job here with history of zero, and his book is probably more useful for students trying to know how to use the zero and it's concepts for their math classes, especially figuring out the limit and other calculations.
Rating:
Summary: Zero is fundamental
Review: Entertaining book for students of philosophy, historians, and math neophytes, but Seife's simple-minded application of the principle of the conservation of energy to the quantum electrodynamic sea of spacetimemassenergy, i.e. the "zero point field," among other things, reveals him to be among the least imaginitive of physicists. His dismissive proposition that "nothing can come from nothing," overlooks the very simple fact that the QED sea of energy is hardly "nothing," otherwise there would be no such thing as Brownian motion or the Casimir Effect, not to mention the space, time, mass, and energy of our universe. Hal Puthoff claims that a cupful of this so called "vacuum energy" could boil away the oceans of our planet. (The most intriguing concept of "zero" is that promulageted by today's heretics such as Tom Bearden.) Presumably, however, Seife's math and philosophical history of zero is accurate. Before reading this book, this reader had known very little of it, and it was this part that he found quite enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful but needs to be toned down a bit
Review: I agree with previous reviewers in that this book goes way over the top in the extent that it talks up its subject. To be sure, the achingly-slow acceptance of zero into mathematics has been important for both math itself and for the branches of science that use it heavily-- calculus would have been impossible without it, not to mention the many branches of physics and engineering that depend on this field. But the author is too easily given to broad, overexcited statements about how zero is some kind of "open sesame" for currently unsolved problems of math and physics. Working with zeroes and infinities is essential for mathematicians these days, but there's nothing terrifically special conceptually about zero that sheds light on modern mysteries-- the zero number, at base, is primarily a tool for mathematicians and mathematical physicists, albeit an unusually useful one. Still, the book's section on limit calculation is much more in-depth and easy to grasp than in most textbooks-- when you get to the part about measurements for the cylindrical barrel, slow down and read carefully, because you'll be hard-pressed to find an explanation of integral calculus that's better than this.
Rating:
Summary: NO ( know "0")
Review: If you think Zero is nothing then you might be right till you understand that nothing took centuries for man to discover and more centuries will go before we completly understand it. This book is a great work from Charles which goes from 300 BC to big bang and "Black Holes". I believe his great work could have been extended to ohter sides of zero like why is zero written as "O' ... why are heavenly bodies round and why mathematically area of circle is greater than Square which is greater than a triangle while the circumfrence of circle could be equal to parameter of Square which could be equal to parameter of a triangle.... as we know this is because the figure with highest number of sides will have maximum area and in case of circle the number of sides is infinite ... nothing has infinity inside !! The spiritual aspect too of zero needs more investigation ... All the best to the readers of this book for it has so many thought provoking information.. enjoy "Zero" and you might discover nothing with infinite hue of colors...
Rating:
Summary: Popular Intro to the Zero
Review: On the premise that you read a book for its good points, I give this book a four. I'd assigned it as a possible book report subject to my honors algebra class, so I thought I better read it. ;) I give it four stars because it is a good intro to much of the history of the zero in the number system. Also, it's accessible to secondary students. The history in the book only suffers from running back and forth through time, through time tunnels of the author's own. Yet I must say the book reminded me of that wonder I feel for math. [However,] the book splices in a whole lot of history of philosophy. It seemed wrong, but it's not my field. Where the book takes a surprising turn is in the last third, when suddenly we abandon the number system and take up another field, physics. Mind you, we are no longer talking about math, we are talking about cosmology and very small things. I love physics, too, but I was dismayed, disheartened to see this shift. Here the concept of zero is used as an analogy. The physics has nothing to do with the number line or the coordinate plane. Then one of my students extended the proof in the Appendix, whereby via division by zero one is able to prove that 1 = 0, and also that Winston Churchill is a carrot. Everyone already knows that Winston Churchill is a carrot. But not via the author's proof. The author makes a mistake right off the bat, and his proof is spurious. The author says, let a=1 and b=1. Then he proceeds to divide by a-b. But one must say, in doing this division, that a and b cannot be equal, so as to avoid dividing by 0, which is not allowed. I pointed this error out to my student, who had already seen the mistake for himself. We are studying rational expressions at the moment, looking for extraneous roots, and one of the first things you must point out is that the denominator may not be zero. This isn't a paradox. This is simply an algebra 1 error. I marvel that some editor didn't catch it.
Rating: 
Summary: A very engaging, interesting, and enlightening read
Review: The title of this book is "Zero: the Biography of a Dangerous Idea." Certainly, what Charles Seife wrote does not disappoint: it IS a biography of zero. It starts from its conception in early history, and progresses to outline its development in history through the branches of mathematics, physics, art, and even philosophy. A previous reader was disappointed that the book took time to focus on physics and philosophy, but keep in mind that zero is not limited only to the mathematical realm. Indeed, it is pervasive in society, and it has affected the way we view the world. So to talk about zero yet disregard its important contributions to fields other than mathematics would be a travesty. Seife's book is a very engaging and enlightening read. Seife looks at how zero has become: the foundation for calculus (taking limits to zero), a revolutionary idea in art (3d drawings have a point of infinity to give depth perception...and infinity and zero are just different sides of the same coin), an important concept of the numberline, and many other places. Indeed, I have read this book many times, sometimes for a quick browse and sometimes for an indepth read, and it has always been a pleasure to read. Moreover, Seife is very knowledgeable in what he writes, and he brings a sense of humor as well--if you have ever read his article about the debate on cold fusion in 'Science' or 'Scientific American' (it was one or the other, its been a while since that article was published in the early 90s I believe) you'll see his sense of humor in his concluding paragraph (cold fusion or confusion anyone?). And in response to another review earlier, the reader said that in the appendix there was a proof where a=1 and b=1, and from the equation a^2 - b^2 = a^2 - ab it can be found that 1=0 by factoring the difference of squares and dividing by (a-b). The reader commented that this is dividing by 0, that such an operation violates a fundamental law of algebra (cannot divide by zero), and that an editor should have caught it. The point is that Seife is showing WHY you cannot divide by 0, that the result is 1=0 and that logic and mathematics would be invalid. He is showing why zero may be a 'dangerous idea'! In conclusion, this book is superb in its writing and content. It lives up to what it was meant to do, to show the development of zero through history. It is clear, concise, and witty. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A very engaging, interesting, and enlightening read
Review: The title of this book is "Zero: the Biography of a Dangerous Idea." Certainly, what Charles Seife wrote does not disappoint: it IS a biography of zero. It starts from its conception in early history, and progresses to outline its development in history through the branches of mathematics, physics, art, and even philosophy. A previous reader was disappointed that the book took time to focus on physics and philosophy, but keep in mind that zero is not limited only to the mathematical realm. Indeed, it is pervasive in society, and it has affected the way we view the world. So to talk about zero yet disregard its important contributions to fields other than mathematics would be a travesty. Seife's book is a very engaging and enlightening read. Seife looks at how zero has become: the foundation for calculus (taking limits to zero), a revolutionary idea in art (3d drawings have a point of infinity to give depth perception...and infinity and zero are just different sides of the same coin), an important concept of the numberline, and many other places. Indeed, I have read this book many times, sometimes for a quick browse and sometimes for an indepth read, and it has always been a pleasure to read. Moreover, Seife is very knowledgeable in what he writes, and he brings a sense of humor as well--if you have ever read his article about the debate on cold fusion in 'Science' or 'Scientific American' (it was one or the other, its been a while since that article was published in the early 90s I believe) you'll see his sense of humor in his concluding paragraph (cold fusion or confusion anyone?). And in response to another review earlier, the reader said that in the appendix there was a proof where a=1 and b=1, and from the equation a^2 - b^2 = a^2 - ab it can be found that 1=0 by factoring the difference of squares and dividing by (a-b). The reader commented that this is dividing by 0, that such an operation violates a fundamental law of algebra (cannot divide by zero), and that an editor should have caught it. The point is that Seife is showing WHY you cannot divide by 0, that the result is 1=0 and that logic and mathematics would be invalid. He is showing why zero may be a 'dangerous idea'! In conclusion, this book is superb in its writing and content. It lives up to what it was meant to do, to show the development of zero through history. It is clear, concise, and witty. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Zero by charles Seife
Review: The work is perfect for student projects in mathematics or science. Many popular theories of the number zero are described in great detail.
The study of zero has fascinated thinkers from Ancient Rome to
the Americas. Zero did not fit into the Pythagorean framework.
Saint Augustine defined it as formlessness without definition.
The number has a role in the quadratic formula. The work
contains many possible interpretations of the number zero in
philosophy, mathematics and academe. It is highly recommended
for a wide constituency
of readers. The number zero is popular in arriving at limits
in calculus . It has many uses in linear algebra ; such as,
the zero matrix, row reduction methods in linear programming
and determinant theory. The work could serve as a springboard
for a doctoral dissertation.
|
