Finding Zero

A Mathemetician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers

By: Amir D. Aczel

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

The story of how we got our numbers - told through one mathematician's journey to find zero.

The invention of numerals is perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. The story of how and where we got these numerals, which we so depend on, has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery. Finding Zero is an adventure-filled saga of Amir Aczel's lifelong obsession: to find the original sources of our numerals. Aczel has doggedly crisscrossed the ancient world, scouring dusty, moldy texts, cross examining so-called scholars who offered wildly differing sets of facts, and ultimately penetrating deep into a Cambodian jungle to find a definitive proof. Here, he takes the listener along for the ride.

The history begins with the early Babylonian cuneiform numbers, followed by the later Greek and Roman letter numerals. Then Aczel asks the key question: Where do the numbers we use today, the so-called Hindu-Arabic numerals, come from? It is this search that leads him to explore uncharted territory, to go on a grand quest into India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and ultimately into the wilds of Cambodia. There he is blown away to find the earliest zero - the keystone of our entire system of numbers - on a crumbling, vine-covered wall of a seventh-century temple adorned with eaten-away erotic sculptures. While on this odyssey, Aczel meets a host of fascinating characters: academics in search of truth, jungle trekkers looking for adventure, surprisingly honest politicians, shameless smugglers, and treacherous archaeological thieves - who finally reveal where our numbers come from.

©2015 Amir D. Aczel (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Not what I expected but I loved it just the same.

The personal journey of this author is by itself quite interesting and the added bonus of all the mathematical insights as well as the historical discovery make for some of the best reading a number junkie like myself could ever ask for. I recommend all of Mr. Aczel's books whether you are a Math hound or not.

Padded

Ideas are interesting. I'll remember for a long time. Lots of repetition and irrelevant detail, just to make it long enough for a book.

Anti-Western Theme Throughout

We get it...Eastern civilizations are great and Western ones steal their ideas. The topic is interesting but the book is self-serving.

Couldn't stop listening

My first audible book that I couldn't stop listening to. Enjoyable start to finish. I would love to meet the author and shake his hand in seeing his vision through. I hope to see k127 for myself someday.

interesting

0 something that we all take for granted and this book. is simple yet so interesting

Moments of interest...

...but stiff and plodding overall. His Aleph book was far better. Composed by a delightful but rigid intellect.

Not bad for an evolutionists take...

Fairly interesting, but leans heavily upon the dates and historical periods per the theory of evolution. I am not a proponent of said theory, and would be most enthusiastic if somebody would venture a work on this subject from the creationist point of view. As such, I can only regard this as a mere work of entertainment with a factual account of a true story, but historically, it is nearly valueless to creationists.

playful nature of the story

really there wasn't much, maybe more about the infinite but zero is amazing itself

Mediocre

Very little in the way of historical information or compelling factual conclusions. Rather, this is a anecdotal memoir and justification of one man’s crusade to leave a lasting acedemic mark.

Lost me with all the sex talk...

Would you try another book from Amir D. Aczel and/or Stefan Rudnicki?

I'd be hesitant to. I'm not sure I would.

What was most disappointing about Amir D. Aczel’s story?

While it started out as an interesting personal narrative concerning math, it descended into talk about these statues and carvings which were in sexual positions, sexually aroused, naked, etc. It just became all about sex. I lost interest. I wanted to listen to a book about math, not depictions of sex and arousal.

Which character – as performed by Stefan Rudnicki – was your favorite?

I didn't get far enough in to say. I dropped the book at about 20% through.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I liked the casual conversational style. It felt as if the narrator were sitting down and recounting his life to me personally. I just wish he were in front of me so I could say to him: okay, I got the point, there was lots of sex...can we move on now?

Any additional comments?

This is much more of a narrative than a math text. I was personally interested in something more mathematical. Perhaps others would be looking at this book for the same reason. If so, you may find it unsatisfactory for the same reason as I did.