Zero - the biography of a dangerous idea

Zero is a strange sort of number - for instance division by zero in a computer program causes all sorts of problems. This book is a look at the development of the concept of zero, and infinity, zero's twin, from ancient times to recent discoveries in cosmology and quantum physics. Aristotle tried to hide paradoxes associated with zero, with pronouncments such as 'Nature abhors a vacuum'. This held back the development of mathematics in the West, while in the East zero was accepted and the subject flourished. Eventually the usefulness of zero was accepted in the West, and mathematics took off agian, leading to the use of infinitesimals and the development of the calculus. I felt that the book would be very useful to someone learning calculus, as it gives a clear description of the ideas behind the subject.

The later part of the book looks at the concepts of zero and infinity in physics. Concepts looked at include absolute zero, the ultraviolet catastrophe and zero point energy. This is well written, giving a clear flavour of the ideas, without needing technicalities.

The book is fast moving devoting a couple of pages to each topic before moving on. To a large extent this succeeds, it has a lot of material of interest without getting boring. However, I did sometimes feel that some subjects weren't particularly related to zero, and that more space could have been given to those that were. That said, it was an enjoyable read, and has wide ranging appeal, being suitable for anybody who likes a bit of light reading on scientific and mathematical subjects.