Arlo, I just picked up his book on information theory "Decoding the Universe". I was hoping to brush up on it to get a handle on the holographic theory of everything guy but he didn't stick around. Looks interesting though. Anyway good luck with it I think you will like it.
Krimel ------------------------------- [Arlo had suggested] Zero has a fascinating story, you can read a nice summary of this on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0_(number) [Krimel] This horror and distrust of the number zero led the Greeks to adopt a truly bizarre system of calculation that often involved conversions back and forth to a Babylonian system of notation in base 60. I recommend Charles Seife's Zero: the Biography of a Dangerous Idea for a lucid account of Zero, the place holder of history. [Arlo] Just ordered a copy through BN ($13). Thanks for the suggestion. Remembered that in ZMM Pirsig commented on "zero". "He used the number zero as a starter. Zero, originally a Hindu number, was introduced to the West by the Arabs during the Middle Ages and was unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. How was that? he wondered. Had nature so subtly hidden zero that all the Greeks and all the Romans...millions of them...couldn't find it?" (ZMM) This is contradicted somewhat by the History of Zero given on Wikipedia (the book too?). I'll give Pirsig the benefit of rhetorical expediency here, as the Greeks and Romans may not have used it "in the same way", and there is every indication (that I can find) that our modern concept of "zero" (in mathematics) derives from Middle Eastern systems and not European systems. According to Wikipedia anyways... By the way, on the other end of the spectrum, the story of "infinty" (as a mathematical construct) is also very interesting. Again, check out Wikipedia (I swear, I am not on the payroll). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
