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.
Arvustused
a fascinating interdisciplinary expedition to unearth zeros 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
Contents
Foreword
Valdis Segli
Preface
Robert Lawrence Kuhn
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Peter Gobets
Part 0: Zero in Historical Perspective
Introduction to Part 0
1 Viewing the Zero as a Part of Cross-cultural Intellectual Heritage
Bhaswati Bhattacharya
2 Connecting Zeros
Mayank N. Vahia
3 Babylonian Zeros
Jim Ritter
4 Aspects of Zero in Ancient Egypt
Friedhelm Hoffmann
5 The Zero Concept in Ancient Egypt
Beatrice Lumpkin
6 On the Placeholder in Numeration and the Numeral Zero in China
Célestin Xiaohan Zhou
7 Reflections on Early Dated Inscriptions from South India
T. S. Ravishankar
8 From nya to Zero an Enigmatic Odyssey
Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay
9 The Significance of Zero in Jaina Mathematics
Anupam Jain
10 Notes on the Origin of the First Definition of Zero Consistent with Basic
Physical Laws
Jonathan J. Crabtree
11 Putting a Price on Zero
Manil Suri
12 Revisiting Khmer Stele K-127
Debra G. Aczel, Solang Uk and Hab Touch
13 The Medieval Arabic Zero
Jeffrey A. Oaks
14 Numeration in the Scientific Manuscripts of the Maghreb
Djamil Aïssani
15 The Zero Triumphant: Allegory, Emptiness and the Early History of the
Tarot
Esther Freinkel Tishman
Part 1: Zero in Religious, Philosophical and Linguistic Perspective
Introduction to Part 1
16 On the Semiotics of Zero
Brian Rotman
17 Nought Matters: the History and Philosophy of Zero
Paul Ernest
18 The Influence of Buddhism on the Invention and Development of Zero
Alexis Lavis
19 Zero and nyat: Likely Bedfellows
Fabio Gironi
20 Indian Origin of Zero
Ravi Prakash Arya
21 A Philosophical Origin of the Mathematical Zero
Sudip Bhattacharyya
22 Category Theory and the Ontology of nyata
Sisir Roy and Rayudu Posina
23 Zero: an Integrative Spiritual Perspective with One and Infinity
Sharda S. Nandram, Puneet K. Bindlish, Ankur Joshi and Vishwanath Dhital
24 Challenges in Interpreting the Invention of Zero
Kaspars Klavins
25 Some More Unsystematic Notes on nya
Alberto Pelissero
26 Much Ado about Nothing or, How Much Philosophy Is Required to Invent the
Number Zero?
Johannes Bronkhorst
27 From Emptiness to Nonsense: the Constitution of the Number Zero (for
Non-mathematicians)
Erik Hoogcarspel
28 The Fear of Nothingness
John Marmysz
29 The Concept of Naught in Jewish Tradition
Esti Eisenmann
30 How Does Tom Tillemans Think?
Erik Hoogcarspel
31 Overhauling the Prevailing Worldview: an Essay
Peter Gobets
Part 2: Zero in the Arts
Introduction to Part 2
32 Selected Works by Anish Kapoor
Peter Gobets
Part 3: Zero in Mathematics and Science
Introduction to Part 3
33 The Unique Significance of Zero in Thinking: a Sense of Nothing
Andreas Nieder
34 Can We Divide by Zero?
Marina Ville
35 Division by Zero (khahara) in Indian Mathematics
Avinash Sathaye
36 Zero: in Various Forms
Mayank N. Vahia and Upsana Neogi
37 Nothing, Zeno Paradoxes and Quantum Physics
Marcis Auzinsh
38 The Significance to Physics of the Number Zero
Joseph A. Biello and R. Samson
39 A World without Zero
R. Samson
Epilogue
Peter Gobets
Appendix 1: Expertise Center on Zero Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Appendix 2: Online Presentations
Appendix 3: Status Update/Petition on the Bakhshali Manuscript
Index
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.
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