000			02850cam a2200325 i 4500
001			18194828
005			20170314160901.0
008			140620s2015 nyua b 000 0 eng
010			_a 2014024462
020			_a9781250084910
040			_aDLC _beng _cDLC _erda _dDLC
042			_apcc
050	0	0	_aQA141.2 _b.A29 2015
082	0	0	_223 _a513.5 _bACZ
084			_aMAT015000 _aSCI034000 _2bisacsh
100	1		_aAczel, Amir D., _eauthor. _91291
245	1	0	_aFinding zero : _ba mathematician's odyssey to uncover the origins of numbers / _cAmir D. Aczel.
260			_aNew York: _bSt.Martin's Griffin, _c2015.
300			_a244 p. ;
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 231-234).
520			_a"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 reader 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. "--
650		0	_aNumerals _xHistory.
650		0	_aZero (The number) _xHistory.
650		7	_aMATHEMATICS / History & Philosophy. _2bisacsh
650		7	_aSCIENCE / History. _2bisacsh _93991
856	4	2	_3Cover image _uhttp://www.netread.com/jcusers2/bk1388/842/9781137279842/image/lgcover.9781137279842.jpg
906			_a7 _bcbc _corignew _d1 _eecip _f20 _gy-gencatlg
942			_2ddc _cREF
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