The Trouble With Zero

Book excerpt: This is a book about zero. This is not a book about the zero you learnt about in school. This is a book about three different types of zeros, a misunderstanding and the impact it has had on Western mathematics and physics. It is one of the strangest tales in the history of mathematics and science. It is no coincidence that the most controversial areas of mathematics are also involved in many of the unexplained problems in physics. After thousands of years of research, you would think that we would know all there is to know about basic algebra. However, as our understanding of mathematics and physics has advanced, it has exposed deficiencies in our theories about numbers and basic mathematics.