Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero

238 Pages·1999·0.79 MB·English

by  Robert Kaplan

T HE NO T H I N G T H AT IS

R O B E RT K A P L AN
T HE
NOTHING
T H AT IS
A Natural History of Zero
Illustrations by Ellen Kaplan
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
20OO
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 1999 by Robert Kaplan
Illustrations copyright © 1999 by Ellen Kaplan
Originally published in the United Kingdom
by Allen Lane/The Penguin Press, 1999
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kaplan, Robert, 1933-
The nothing that is: a natural history of zero
/Robert Kaplan
p. cm.
Included index
ISBN 0-19-512842-7
1. Zero (The number)
I. Title
QA141.K36 1999
511.2'11dc21 99-29000
9 8 7 6 5 43
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Frank Brimsek
3 hours 51 minutes 54 seconds
How close to zero is zero?
BRITISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
JOHN PRESCOTT
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x
A NOTE TO THE READER xii
ZERO
THE LENS I
ONE
MIND PUTS ITS STAMP ON MATTER 4
TWO
THE GREEKS HAD NO WORD FOR IT 14
THREE
TRAVELERS' TALES 28
FOUR
EASTWARD 36
FIVE
DUST 50
SIX
INTO THE UNKNOWN 57
vii
SEVEN
A PARADIGM SHIFTS 68
EIGHT
A MAYAN INTERLUDE: 80
THE DARK SIDE OF COUNTING
NINE
MUCHADO 90
1 Envoys of Emptiness 90
2 A Sypher in Augrim 93
3 This Year, Next Year, Sometime, Never 103
4 Still It Moves 106
TEN
ENTERTAINING ANGELS 116
I The Power of Nothing 116
2 Knowing Squat 120
3 The Fabric of This Vision 129
4 Leaving No Wrack Behind 137
viii
ELEVEN
ALMOST NOTHING 144
I Slouching Toward Bethlehem 144
2 Two Victories, a Defeat and Distant Thunder 160
TWELVE
IS IT OUT THERE? 175
THIRTEEN
BATH-HOUSE WITH SPIDERS 190
FOURTEEN
A LAND WHERE IT 195
WAS ALWAYS AFTERNOON
FIFTEEN
WAS LEAR RIGHT? 203
SIXTEEN
THE UNTHINKABLE 216
INDEX 220
ix