| Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers Contributor(s): Aczel, Amir D. (Author), De Cuir, Cassandra (Director), Rudnicki, Stefan (Read by) |
|
 |
ISBN: 1481523740 ISBN-13: 9781481523745 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks OUR PRICE: $26.96 Product Type: Compact Disc - Other Formats Published: January 2015 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Mathematics | History & Philosophy - Science | History - Mathematics | Counting & Numeration |
| Dewey: 513.5 |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.2" W x 5.8" (0.30 lbs) |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The story of how we got our numbers--told through one mathematician's journey to find zeroThe 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, which we so depend on, 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? It is this search that 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 is blown away to find the earliest zero--the keystone of our entire system of numbers--on a crumbling, vine-covered wall of a seventh-century temple adorned with eaten-away erotic sculptures. While on this odyssey, Aczel meets a host of fascinating characters: academics in search of truth, jungle trekkers looking for adventure, surprisingly honest politicians, shameless smugglers, and treacherous archaeological thieves--who finally reveal where our numbers come from. |
Contributor Bio(s): Aczel, Amir D.: - Amir Aczel (1950-2015) earned his PhD in mathematics from UC Berkeley and is the author of the acclaimed Fermat's Last Theorum, which was published in twenty-two languages. In 2012 he was awarded a Sloan Foundation grant; in 2004 he was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. From 2005 to 2007, Aczel was a visiting scholar at Harvard. He was also a research fellow in the history of science at Boston University. He wrote for Discover magazine online, regularly published in Scientific American as well as science pieces for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He often interviewed about science on radio and television, including recent appearances on NPR's Talk of the Nation's Science Friday. Rudnicki, Stefan: -Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than three thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014 and was named one of AudioFile's Golden Voices in 2012. |