The Origin and Significance of Zero: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9004691553
• ISBN13: 9789004691551
• Release Date: March 2024
• Publisher: Brill
• Length: 742 Pages
• Weight: 2.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.3" x 9.4"