The Origin and Significance of Zero - (Value Inquiry Book) (Hardcover)

About the Book

Interdisciplinary perspective on the origin and significance of the numeral zero. Over 40 international scholars explore zero under four broad themes: history; religion, philosophy & linguistics; arts; and mathematics & science. With the existing research being very specialized, this is the first serious interdisciplinary study.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the 2024 Outstanding Academic Titles award in Choice, a publishing unit of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL)

Zero has been axial in human development, but the origin and discovery of zero has never been satisfactorily addressed by a comprehensive, systematic and above all interdisciplinary research program. In this volume, over 40 international scholars explore zero under four broad themes: history; religion, philosophy & linguistics; arts; and mathematics & the sciences. Some propose that the invention/discovery of zero may have been facilitated by the prior evolution of a sophisticated concept of Nothingness or Emptiness (as it is understood in non-European traditions); and conversely, inhibited by the absence of, or aversion to, such a concept of Nothingness in the West. But not all scholars agree. Join the debate.

Review Quotes

"...a fascinating interdisciplinary expedition to unearth zero's best-kept secrets."
-- Professor Max Tegmark, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

"Zero has been central to battles in mathematics, in philosophy, in religion, and in the sciences."
-- Professor John Leslie, University of Guelph, Canada

About the Author

Peter Gobets is an independent researcher, specializing in philosophy, linguistics and the history of science and mathematics. He has authored three books including a philosophical novel. In the early 1990s, he drafted the original Zero Project, formally launched in 2015.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn (B.A., S.M., Ph.D.) is creator and host of Closer To Truth (science and philosophy, TV and web). He has written or edited over thirty books, chairs The Kuhn Foundation, and received the China Reform Friendship Medal.