What is zero the Biography of a Dangerous Idea about?

In Zero, Science Journalist Charles Seife follows this innocent-looking number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe, its rise and transcendence in the West, and its ever-present threat to modern physics. Now it threatens the foundations of modern physics.

What was the main point of a Dangerous Idea?

A dangerous idea has threatened the American Dream from the beginning – the belief that some groups and individuals are inherently superior to others and more deserving of fundamental rights.

How many pages is zero The Biography of a Dangerous Idea?

256 pp.
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

Who is the author of zero?

Charles Seife
Charles Seife is the author of four previous books, including Proofiness, Sun in a Bottle and Zero, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for first nonfiction book, and was named a New York Times Notable Book.

What is the role of zero?

0 (zero) is a number, and the numerical digit used to represent that number in numerals. It fulfills a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures. As a digit, 0 is used as a placeholder in place value systems.

Who first used 0 in mathematics?

The first modern equivalent of numeral zero comes from a Hindu astronomer and mathematician Brahmagupta in 628. His symbol to depict the numeral was a dot underneath a number. He also wrote standard rules for reaching zero through addition and subtraction and the results of operations that include the digit.

How was the number pi discovered?

The Egyptians calculated the area of a circle by a formula that gave the approximate value of 3.1605 for π. The first calculation of π was done by Archimedes of Syracuse (287–212 BC), one of the greatest mathematicians of the ancient world. In this way, Archimedes showed that π is between 3 1/7 and 3 10/71.

Is zero invented or discovered?

The first recorded zero appeared in Mesopotamia around 3 B.C. The Mayans invented it independently circa 4 A.D. It was later devised in India in the mid-fifth century, spread to Cambodia near the end of the seventh century, and into China and the Islamic countries at the end of the eighth.

What is the history of zero?

Who came up with the number 0?

The Origin of Zero. The number zero as we know it arrived in the West circa 1200, most famously delivered by Italian mathematician Fibonacci (aka Leonardo of Pisa), who brought it, along with the rest of the Arabic numerals, back from his travels to north Africa.

Where did the invention of zero come from?

“We are of the view that in ancient India are found numerous so-called ‘cultural antecedents’ that make it plausible that the mathematical zero digit was invented there,” said Gobets, whose organization is composed of academics and graduate students devoted to studying the development of zero in India.

When did the first person use the zero symbol?

Sumerian scribes used spaces to denote absences in number columns as early as 4,000 years ago, but the first recorded use of a zero-like symbol dates to sometime around the third century B.C. in ancient Babylon.

Which is the oldest example of a zero?

An inscription on a temple wall in Gwalior, India, dates back to the ninth century, and has been considered the oldest recorded example of a zero, according to the University of Oxford. Another example is an ancient Indian scroll called the Bhakshali manuscript.