Congratulations, Sarah Albee, on ZERO: The Number that Almost Wasn't

Thank you so much for sharing the release of Zero: The Number that Almost Wasn’t with us! Young readers love STEAM books and I’m sure yours will find many happy readers. Can you share with us a bit about the inspiration for this book? What was your initial spark? Thanks so much for having me, Nancy! So I’ve long been curious as to why our system is known as the “Hindu-Arabic numeral system,” and have also often wondered why our calendar is “off,” in that the 19th century means the 1800s, etc. (In every book I write I feel the need to clarify this system for kids, or just say “in the 1800s...”) And then one day while I was researching a different project I stumbled across an event from the eighth century (that would be the 700s) when the pope asking the Venerable Bede to calculate the date of Easter—a complicated endeavor back then. Poor V. B. had to adhere to complex ecclesiastical rules that were based on both the lunar and solar calendars and his task required expertise in both astronomy and math. And to make matters even more tricky for V. B., I learned that he had no knowledge of zero! That made me sit up and pay attention. Think about that—Roman numerals, which many of us studied in school, look like this: L C D M X V I—and yep, there’s no zero. So early creators of our Western calendar had to start with the first century AD, rather than the “zero-eth” century. Hence our messed-up calendar. All this back story is complicated, and I left most of it out of the book, but it started me wondering where zero came from, who used it first, and when it became universally adapted. It’s a pretty fascinating history.

Writing STEAM books requires a substantial amount of research. Often it is the most fun part of our writing process. Did you meet any challenges in your research journey? EVERYTHING about researching this book was challenging! (But fun.) The timeline of the book spans from the Sumerians all the way to the present day. And the story includes so many areas of the world, including Mesopotamia, ancient India, ancient Cambodia, China, Baghdad, and even the Maya in early Mexico. It’s not until late in the book that zero gets introduced to the western world, let alone accepted there. Did I mention this is a picture book? I’m so very grateful for the many math teachers, mathematicians, and history-of-math experts I consulted for help with this book. And also for Chris Hsu, my awesome illustrator, who did tons of his own historical research and also added his special touches. Here’s a list in the back matter of some of what he added to the illustrations. (Note he even composed a spread using the Fibonacci sequence!!)

Often one of the most difficult parts of crafting our books is not deciding what to include, but deciding what to leave out. What did you choose to leave out of this book and why? Yes that’s for sure my perennial struggle (see above), but an additional one was figuring out how to present such vast history and how to explain complex mathematical topics without assuming any prior knowledge on the part of my readers. Chris’s illustrations helped a lot, as did my experts—and I consulted many experts. I even had the help of a sixth grader, Korben, who sent me a suggestion for the back cover after I visited his school. My editor loved it and used it!

What tip can you share with teachers who want to use your book in the classroom? The book touches on a lot of math topics (place value, base 10, binary coding, even calculus). I certainly don’t exhaustively explain these topics, but the book does help contextualize the math, and also the history, for kids. I mean, who knew there were so many geopolitical issues involved with the West’s acceptance of zero? Some European opponents called it “dangerous Saracen magic.” (Zero arrive in the West during the Crusades, which were basically holy wars between the Christians and the Muslims.) I’m hoping that knowing a bit of this history will help kids appreciate the elegance of the Hindu-Arabic number system, and also see how relevant math can be to our daily lives and to the advancement of technology.

Congratulations on this book release! What comes next for you? Can you give us a peek at what you are currently researching ? I’ve got a book in progress about dinosaurs! Sauropods, specifically—they’re my personal favorites. It should be announced soon. That sounds wonderful! Happy researching, Sarah!

About the author: Sarah Albee is the New York Times bestselling author of nonfiction books for kids. Her most recent titles include Zero: The Number that Almost Wasn’t: The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington, and Bounce!: A Scientific History of Rubber. Other popular titles include Troublemakers in Trousers; Accidental Archaeologists; and Poop Happened: A History of the World from the Bottom Up. She and her husband live in New York City and have three grown children. Visit her at www.sarahalbeebooks.com