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Finding zero: a mathematician's odyssey to uncover the origins of numbers

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Pub. Date:
2015
Language:
English
Description
"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, 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. "--
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ISBN:
9781137279842
9781466879102
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work IDbb4a2f7a-c523-be97-bfba-8f1f5038d50a
Grouping Titlefinding zero a mathematicians odyssey to uncover the origins of numbers
Grouping Authoramir d aczel
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-28 02:11:39AM
Last Indexed2024-03-28 02:24:37AM

Solr Fields

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author
Aczel, Amir D.
author_display
Aczel, Amir D.
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Central
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North Highlands-Antelope
display_description
"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, 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. "--
format_catalog
Book
eBook
format_category_catalog
Books
eBook
id
bb4a2f7a-c523-be97-bfba-8f1f5038d50a
isbn
9781137279842
9781466879102
itype_catalog
Adult Book Non-Fiction
last_indexed
2024-03-28T09:24:37.294Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_catalog
513.5 A189 2015
owning_library_catalog
Sacramento Public Library
owning_location_catalog
Central
North Highlands-Antelope
primary_isbn
9781137279842
publishDate
2015
publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
St. Martin's Publishing Group
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Numerals -- History
Zero (The number) -- History
title_display
Finding zero : a mathematician's odyssey to uncover the origins of numbers
title_full
Finding Zero A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers
Finding zero : a mathematician's odyssey to uncover the origins of numbers / Amir D. Aczel
title_short
Finding zero
title_sub
a mathematician's odyssey to uncover the origins of numbers
topic_facet
History
Mathematics
Nonfiction
Numerals
Science
Zero (The number)

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