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Albee, Sarah

Zero! : The Number That Almost Wasn't

40 pp. | Charlesbridge | March, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781623544324 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 9781632893918 $9.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Chris Hsu. In a cheerful picture book populated by Hsu’s inquisitive cartoon humans, Albee traces the history of the number zero. From the ancient Babylonians who invented place value four thousand years ago, to the Romans who developed a system of Vs, Is, and Xs; from the Mayans who had a concept of zero but no way to spread their idea to the rest of the world, to the Indian scribe who invented a symbol for zero and the Persian mathematician who popularized it, the invention of zero was a worldwide effort with triumphs and setbacks. Parts of Europe were perhaps the last to adopt the Hindu-Arabic number system, with Roman numerals persisting into the eighteenth century in some banking operations. (A timeline gives a “blurry” portrait of when various ­developments occurred.) The narrative treads lightly but doesn’t gloss over ways in which Western xenophobia and religious fanaticism delayed zero’s adoption. Meanwhile, the illustrations get into the spirit of archaeological inquiry with touches such as heritage breeds of dogs and sheep in the portrayal of historical communities and a nod to Halley’s comet. Philosophical considerations (“why create a symbol to represent nothing?”) and mention of the fields (e.g., physics, computing) that arose as a result of the Hindu-Arabic number system round out the presentation, while a few notes about definitions, a world map, and a bibliography complete the back matter. Place this book in the hands of a budding numerophile and watch them start to put two and two together.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

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