LEADER 02404cam a2200241 a 4500
001 81084
003 TNML
005 20151028182755.0
008 180319s2015 nyu e 000 0 eng d
010 $a2014024462
020 $a9781137279842 (hbk.) :$cNT815$
035 $aNO000069568
035 $a854471
037 $a公共圖書館臺南分區資源中心
040 $aDLC$beng$erda$cDLC$dBTCTA$dBDX$dOCLCO$dOCLCF$dYDXCP$dTMK$dTWTNM
050 00$aQA141.2$b.A29 2015
082 0 $a513.5$222
090 $a臺南市立圖書館
100 1 $aAczel, Amir D.
245 10$aFinding zero :$ba mathematician's odyssey to uncover the origins of numbers /$cAmir D. Aczel.
260 $aNew York, NY :$bPalgrave Macmillan,$c2015.
300 $ax, 242 p. ;$c22 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 231-234) and index.
520 $aThe invention of numerals is perhaps the greatest abstraction the human mind has ever created. Virtually everything in our lives is digital, numerical, or quantified. The story of how and where we got these numerals, which we so depend on, has for thousands of years been shrouded in mystery. Finding Zero is an adventure filled saga of Amir Aczel's lifelong obsession: to find the original sources of our numerals. Aczel has doggedly crisscrossed the ancient world, scouring dusty, moldy texts, cross examining so-called scholars who offered wildly differing sets of facts, and ultimately penetrating deep into a Cambodian jungle to find a definitive proof. Here, he takes the reader along for the ride. The history begins with the early Babylonian cuneiform numbers, followed by the later Greek and Roman letter numerals. Then Aczel asks the key question: where do the numbers we use today, the so-called Hindu-Arabic numerals, come from? It is this search that leads him to explore uncharted territory, to go on a grand quest into India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and ultimately into the wilds of Cambodia. There he is blown away to find the earliest zero--the keystone of our entire system of numbers--on a crumbling, vine-covered wall of a seventh- century temple adorned with eaten-away erotic sculptures. While on this odyssey, Aczel meets a host of fascinating characters: academics in search of truth, jungle trekkers looking for adventure, surprisingly honest politicians, shameless smugglers, and treacherous archaeological thieves--who finally reveal where our numbers come from. -- Provided by publisher.
650 0$aNumerals$xHistory.
650 0$aZero (The number)$xHistory.
653 $a知識性