Scientific Progress and Zero

Charles Seife tells the story of scientific progress through the lens of the number zero. Zero has prompted most of the major advances in mathematics and physics. At the very least, dealing with zero was required in order to make progress. Seife makes a number of extravagant claims about scientific progress and its relation to zero. For instance, he attributes to Aristotelian metaphysics an inability to recognize the number zero and then blames that inability not only for the Roman civilization's failure to advance mathematics but for the failure of scientific progress during the entire medieval period.

Seife claims that each major advance in physics and mathematics all involved facing some challenge presented by zero. For instance, without zero, algebra could not be created and algebra was needed for any number of important advances. It was an inability to deal with the implications of zero...