Friday, April 05, 2024
Getting Something from Nothing: the Story of Zero
If you put yourself in the place of ancient people, it’s a wonder that anyone ever came up with a number that means nothing. It doesn’t make much sense when you are counting objects, but it’s pretty handy for mathematics. Once the concept was there, it wasn’t universally accepted. But it turned out to be too useful to ignore. Dr. Hannah Fry of the Royal Institution lays out a short version of the history of zero. (via mental_floss)
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3 comments:
Interesting book regarding zero"
"Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Write
A summary can be found here: https://medium.com/@101summaries/the-biography-of-a-dangerous-idea-45d7c82ee99c
Darn auto correct! Author is Charles Seife.
There was a cartoon on 16mm film that they played for us in school in the early 1970s, about innovation. At one point in history a man shouts, excited, "Wahooo! I've invented the zero!" Another man says, "What?" The first man says, "Oh, nothing, nothing."
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