[b]Charles Seife
Zero is powerful because it is infinity’s twin. They are equal and opposite, yin and yang.[/b]
For example, in a world of words.
The Greeks couldn’t do this neat little mathematical trick. They didn’t have the concept of a limit because they didn’t believe in zero. The terms in the infinite series didn’t have a limit or a destination; they seemed to get smaller and smaller without any particular end in sight. As a result, the Greeks couldn’t handle the infinite. They pondered the concept of the void but rejected zero as a number, and they toyed with the concept of the infinite but refused to allow infinity-numbers that are infinitely small and infinitely large-anywhere near the realm of numbers. This is the biggest failure in Greek mathematics, and it is the only thing that kept them from discovering calculus.
I know what you’re thinking: That’s Greek to me.
The infinite zero of a black hole-mass crammed into zero space, curving space infinitely-punches a hole in the smooth rubber sheet. The equations of general relativity cannot deal with the sharpness of zero. In a black hole, space and time are meaningless.
On the other hand, how many times has he been in one? My guess: zero.
The laws of quantum mechanics treat particles such as the electron as points; that is, they take up no space at all. The electron is a zero-dimensional object, and its very zerolike nature ensures that scientists don’t even know the electron’s mass or charge.
The laws of quantum Mechanics? Isn’t that “for all practical purposes” a contradiction in terms.
In string theory, zero has been banished from the universe; there is no such thing as zero distance or zero time. This solves all the infinity problems of quantum mechanics.
Let’s find a string and check it out.
This is the definition of the infinite: it is something that can stay the same size even when you subtract from it.
Aren’t definitions just wonderful?!!