If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Did you know that the ancient Greeks once feared and banned the number zero, believing it was a dangerous threat to their entire worldview?
- Have you ever wondered how the simple concept of 'nothing' became a bridge between ancient religious worship and the birth of modern mathematics?
- What if the secret to understanding the infinite—and even the ultimate fate of our cosmos—is hidden within a number that wasn't allowed to exist for centuries?
Listen to Zero — Free Audiobook
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Key Takeaways from Zero
- Discover why the earliest humans had no use for zero and how ancient Babylonians finally invented it as a crucial placeholder for their base-60 counting system.
- Learn how the philosophical beliefs of the ancient Greeks, led by Aristotle, caused them to banish zero and accidentally stunt the progress of Western mathematics for centuries.
- Understand the mind-bending logic of Zeno’s paradox and see how the mathematical limits of zero and infinity are required to prove that Achilles can actually overtake a tortoise.
- Find out how ancient Indian mathematicians unlocked massive scientific strides, including negative numbers, by treating zero as an abstract concept rather than physical geometry.
- Explore the chaotic mathematical properties of zero—where division leads to infinity—and learn how commercial pressure finally forced Christian Europe to embrace this heretical number.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from Zero
Mind Map
Zero by Charles Seife
Early Origins
Prehistoric Math
Babylonian Invention
Greek Rejection
Geometric Worldview
Aristotle's Ban
Zeno's Paradox
Eastern Embrace
Indian Philosophy
Abstract Mathematics
Infinite Division
Commercial Spread
Western Integration
Cartesian Grid
Calculus
Mathematical Limits
Zero & Infinity's Bond
Complex Numbers
Riemann Sphere
Modern Physics
Absolute Zero
Black Holes
String Theory
The Big Bang
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Question 1 of 7
Why did the ancient Babylonians initially invent the concept of zero?
Zero — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Zero was missing in the earliest days of mathematics; it first arose in ancient Babylonia.
Chapter 3: Philosophy-driven ancient Greeks flatly spurned zero despite its utility.
Chapter 4: Ancient Indian and Arabic mathematicians welcomed zero and achieved major mathematical advances.
Chapter 5: Accepting zero in the West proved theologically fraught, yet it produced a mathematical revolution: calculus.
Chapter 6: Mathematicians quickly found that zero and its opposite, infinity, shared a complex yet captivating relationship.
Chapter 7: Zero and infinity aren’t merely mathematical ideas; they pervade physics as well.
Zero Summary & Overview
Zero (2000) is the fascinating story of a number banned by the ancient Greeks and worshipped by ancient Indians. Zero – as well as its twin, infinity – is a number that’s been at the heart of both mathematics and philosophy over the centuries.
Who Should Listen to Zero?
- Popular science enthusiasts
- History buffs curious about how concepts have evolved over time
- Philosophers interested in everything . . . and nothing
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