or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
27 used & new from £3.59
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea (Paperback)

by Charles Seife (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
Price: £6.36 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £3.63 (36%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Thursday, November 12? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
21 new from £3.83 6 used from £3.59
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (illustrated edition) 11 used & new from £8.82
Paperback £9.10 £9.15 14 used & new from £6.89
Audio Download (Unabridged) £24.95 £12.23

Frequently Bought Together

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea + "e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library) + An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" [the square root of minus one]
Price For All Three: £23.18

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

"e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library)

"e": The Story of a Number (Princeton Science Library)

by Eli Maor
4.6 out of 5 stars (7)  £7.86
An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" [the square root of minus one]

An Imaginary Tale: The Story of "i" [the square root of minus one]

by Paul J. Nahin
4.0 out of 5 stars (5)  £8.96
Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable

Brief History of Infinity: The Quest to Think the Unthinkable

by Brian Clegg
4.2 out of 5 stars (16)  £5.74
A History of Pi

A History of Pi

by Petr Beckmann
3.5 out of 5 stars (15)  £8.10
To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History of the Infinite (Princeton Paperbacks)

To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History of the Infinite (Princeton Paperbacks)

by Eli Maor
4.0 out of 5 stars (4)  £11.88
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd; New Ed edition (12 Oct 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0285635948
  • ISBN-13: 978-0285635944
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,489 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Science & Nature > History & Philosophy > Mathematics
    #1 in  Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Philosophy of Mathematics
    #1 in  Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical > Mathematics > Mathematical Theory > Philosophy of Mathematics

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   A Biography opens new browser window
www.Ask.com  -  Find the Best Results for A Biography! 
  
 

Product Description

Review

This is one of the best-written popular science books to have come this way for quite a while... Seife has a neat turn of phrase, an easy yet respectful familiarity with his subject that helps the maths slip down easily. --Nicholas Lezard, 'The Guardian'

A witty but lucid account... A must for armchair logicians. --'BBC Focus'

A breathless tour of the dangerous idea of zero. --'New Scientist'


'Focus', July 2003

a witty but lucid account... A must for armchair logicians.
See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Review for Zero:the Biography of a Dangerous Idea, 30 Jul 2002
By A Customer
This book was absolutely wonderful, it delves into the history of mathematics, as far back as the creation of numbers themselves. It looks at the contribution that the Greeks, Babylonians and Hindus made to mathematics, and how religion had restricted the development of mathematics. The book was written very well, it felt like a story book, rather than a factual book. I recommend this book for everyone with an interest in Maths, you do not need to be a mathematician to enjoy this book.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Zero and infinity, 7 Aug 2007
By Mikko Saari (Tampere, Finland) - See all my reviews
Babylonians invented it, Indians worshipped it, Greeks abhorred it. Zero has been a problematic number for a long time. European mathematicians followed Greek footsteps, until they finally realized how important thing zero was for advanced mathematics.

Seife presents us the history of zero and its sister concept infinity, not only in mathematics, but also in physics and quantum mechanics. Zero is an entertaining book, if a bit light. For quick popular science entertainment purposes it's a good choice. (Review based on the Finnish translation.)
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best maths books around, 8 Dec 2006
By marthiemoo (bristol, uk) - See all my reviews
Being an undergraduate philosopher I've had to read a lot of maths books, and this is by far the best. It's true that you don't need much maths background to understand it, but it's also highly enjoyable for those with a lot of maths or physics knowledge - it links up and explains general assumptions in a way which seems never to occur to most teachers of sciences courses. The proof of 0=1 (and, extrapolating, that winston churchill = a carrot) is excellent and well worth committing to memory just to freak out any maths nerds one knows. Also worth a go is the step-by-step guide to making your own wormhole time machine (Step 1: Make a small wormhole, and attach one end to something really heavy). Really excellent, buy everyone you know a copy for christmas.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars good but not outstanding
I read a lot of popular science, especially math and physics. This book was well written but not among the top books in its genre.
Published 4 days ago by Risto

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!
The first chapter (chapter zero) is rubbish, I nearly put the book down thinking it would be a novel. Thankfully it is a very short chapter and I continued reading. Read more
Published 28 days ago by L. Morris

5.0 out of 5 stars Zero or Infinity!
I bought this book without any expectations. I took it to read during my vacations and it worked!

A very light book, that tells us the history since the Babylonian's... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Carlos Nicolau

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will fascinate, surprise and confuse in equal measures
It has been awhile since anyone has reviewed this book so I thought I should show that even though it was published a few years ago it is still a very well written and breathless... Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. Duducu

4.0 out of 5 stars Mathematics history
A very readable book. This book covers the life story of the number zero, and it is a facinating story which is being told. Read more
Published on 11 April 2003 by Steve Trumpet

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended
This is an excellent history of number Zero. Charles Seife takes you from the start, tracing the ideas of zero and inifity through time and how their concepts have been feared and... Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2001

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject














i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.