Charles Seife

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

1. IDEA 1

   Zero was once a dangerous idea

   Seife tells the history of zero, a number that many cultures feared or rejected. He argues that zero and its twin, infinity, have challenged thinkers for thousands of years and shaped science and religion.

2. IDEA 2

   Zero began as a placeholder

   Seife explains that the Babylonians used a mark to show an empty place in their number system. At first, though, it was not treated as a number in its own right.

3. IDEA 3

   The Greeks rejected the void

   Seife describes how Greek thinkers, following Aristotle, rejected the idea of nothingness and empty space. This, in his view, held back their mathematics. For them, a void seemed to threaten the order of the world.

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