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Sarah Albee is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 100 books for kids, including Troublemakers in Trousers and Accidental Archaeologists- True Stories of Unexpected Discoveries. Prior to being a full-time writer, Sarah worked at Children's Television Workshop (producers of Sesame Street) for nine years. She played basketball in college, and then a year of semiprofessional women's basketball in Cairo, Egypt. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Chris Hsu is a classically-trained and versatile artist who has worked in greeting-card illustration, advertising, and animation, including as a bakground artist on the animated FX spy comedy Archer. He is the illustrator of I Am Someone Else, The Boo-Boos That Changed the World, and Madame Speaker. www.chrishsu.net
Everyone understands what it means to have nothing, but readers may be surprised to discover that zero as a mathematical concept is fairly recent. Albee charts the development of this revolutionary concept from the Babylonian introduction of placeholders to zero’s influence on calculus and modern fields of knowledge from physics to computer science. An important aspect of the narrative is the fundamental contributions of nonwestern cultures such as the Mayan and Arabic cultures. Abee also shares roadblocks to the zero’s acceptance, such as European Christian leaders who banished it, arguing that something that represented nothing must be “the work of the devil.” Hsu’s playful illustrations feature a cartoon personification of zero who not only observes its development, but sometimes takes an active role, such as standing next to the great Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizimi as he introduces the concept to fellow Persians. Back matter includes information about other words for zero, number systems, and the terminology; a brief bibliography; detailed timeline; and some fun notes on the illustrations. This is an excellent addition to books on math history and concepts. —Children's Literature
