Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea inhabits a unique rhetorical space. The author, Charles Seife, is a professor and journalist who writes broadly about topics of science, cosmology, and technology. Despite his expertise, much of his work, including Zero, is directed toward general audiences. Many formal aspects of the book evidence Seife’s intention to reach many readers rather than garner applause only in the academic or scientific spheres. First, Seife avoids technical language, complex formulas, and nuanced descriptions that only experts would expect or require. His diction is plain, his descriptions of various philosophies and phenomena straightforward. Second, despite the ambitious scope of the topic—the entire history of the idea of zero—and the inclusion of a bibliography, Seife does not rely much on supporting sources to corroborate his interpretations of zero’s history. He expects readers to trust him as an authority rather than bring expertise of their own to bear on his arguments. Third, Seife writes primarily to intrigue and entertain. Considering the scale of his topic, Seife’s book is brief, suggesting that he does not write to document history in the kind of thorough detail that might alienate laypeople. Moreover, while he encourages readers to ponder zero with newfound wonder, his book does not advance any novel thesis about zero or any of the historical incidents in which it figured; in other words, it does not aim to contribute to academic scholarship on the topic.