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The cover of Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

Charles Seife

Why did whole cultures fear and even outlaw the number zero, and why does it still cause trouble for science?

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At a glance

Author
Charles Seife

Why read it

  • You will see why dividing by zero breaks things, from a ship's engines to the equations of physics
  • You will learn how an innocent looking idea can threaten a whole way of thinking
  • You will understand how zero and infinity are linked, and why that link puzzles mathematicians and physicists

Who it is for

  • Curious readers who never liked math but like ideas
  • Students who wonder why you cannot divide by zero
  • Anyone interested in how ideas get banned and return

Contents

  1. zero
  2. [CHARLES SEIFE]
  3. zero
  4. Chapter 0
  5. Null and Void
  6. Chapter 1
  7. Nothing Doing
  8. [ THE ORIGIN OF ZERO ]
  9. Chapter 2
  10. Nothing Comes of Nothing
  11. [ THE WEST REJECTS ZERO ]
  12. Chapter 3
  13. Nothing Ventured
  14. [ ZERO GOES EAST ]
  15. Chapter 4
  16. The Infinite God of Nothing
  17. [ THE THEOLOGY OF ZERO ]
  18. Chapter 5
  19. Infinite Zeros and Infidel Mathematicians
  20. [ZERO AND THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION]
  21. Chapter 6
  22. Infinity’s Twin
  23. [THE INFINITE NATURE OF ZERO]
  24. Chapter 7
  25. Absolute Zeros
  26. [THE PHYSICS OF ZERO]
  27. Chapter 8
  28. Zero Hour at Ground Zero
  29. [ZERO AT THE EDGE OF SPACE AND TIME]
  30. Chapter 9
  31. Zero’s Final Victory
  32. [END TIME]
  33. Appendix A
  34. Animal, Vegetable, or Minister?
  35. Appendix B
  36. The Golden Ratio
  37. Appendix C
  38. The Modern Definition of a Derivative
  39. Appendix D
  40. Cantor Enumerates the Rational Numbers
  41. Appendix E
  42. Make Your Own Wormhole Time Machine

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