The story of how we got our numbers - told through one mathematician's journey to find zero
The invention of numerals is perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. The story of how and where we got these numerals has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery. Finding Zero is an adventure-filled saga of Amir Aczel's lifelong obsession: to find the original sources of our numerals. Aczel has doggedly crisscrossed the ancient world, scouring dusty, moldy texts, cross examining so-called scholars who offered wildly differing sets of facts, and ultimately penetrating deep into a Cambodian jungle to find a definitive proof. Here, he takes the reader along for the ride.
The history begins with the early Babylonian cuneiform numbers, followed by the later Greek and Roman letter numerals. Then Aczel asks the key question: where do the numbers we use today, the so-called Hindu-Arabic numerals, come from? This leads him to explore uncharted territory, to go on a grand quest into India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and ultimately into the wilds of Cambodia. There he finds the earliest zero on a crumbling, vine-covered wall of a seventh-century temple adorned with eaten-away erotic sculptures. While on this odyssey, Aczel meets academics in search of truth, jungle trekkers looking for adventure, surprisingly honest politicians, shameless smugglers, and archaeological thieves - who finally reveal where our numbers come from.
About the Author
Amir D. Aczel is the author of fifteen books, including The Riddle of the Compass, The Mystery of the Aleph, and the international bestseller Fermat's Last Theorem. An internationally known writer of mathematics and science, he is a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He lives in Brookline, MA.
Reviews
"In his quest to find out whence the numbers came, Aczel crosses the globe...in weaving together mathematics and history with his personal explorations, Aczel enables readers to experience the joy of the chase." -Scientific American
"Prolific mathematics writer Aczel leads a historical adventure that doubles as a surprisingly engaging math lesson...it's difficult to avoid being drawn into his quest with these rip-roaring exploits and escapades." -Publishers Weekly
