Zero to Lazy Eight: The Romance of Numbers

A collection of essays blending elements of linguistics and mathematics provides an educational glimpse into the social history and culture of common phrases and colloquial expressions. By the authors of Alpha to Omega.

"Take five," "behind the eight ball" and "looking out for number one" are phrases that suggest how deeply ingrained numbers are in our daily thought. Combining irreverent wit and erudition, this enjoyable smorgasbord of number lore explains the origins of dozens of phrases, while also tracing hundreds of word origins, from "abundant" to "zip code" (Zone Improvement Program). Each chapter centers on an integer from zero to 13, with a final chapter on infinity (whose symbol is a "lazy eight" in cowherd branding lingo). The authors, though, freely head off on multiple tangents to delve into left-handedness, mistaken identities, colonial American weights and currencies, internal body rhythms, creation myths, notions of the afterlife, clothing sizes and much else. The Humezes ( Alpha to Omega ) and freelancer Maguire cram an astonishing array of facts and lore into their excursion.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A frothy celebration of the joy of numbers. Having waltzed through the world of letters (Alpha to Omega, 1981), the Humezes--this time with the help of freelancer Maguire- -turn their sights on numbers 0 through 13, along with infinity (whose sign, a sideways eight, explains the title). Numbers, they assure us, shine with integrity: ``To the extent that numbers say anything about the real world, they do so unfailingly and incorruptibly.'' Drawing on thinkers as diverse as Camille Paglia and Georg Cantor, and dipping into history, etymology, mathematics, and folklore, the authors praise each integer in turn. Zero, ``where it all began, the clean slate''--the only number that is neither positive nor negative--gives birth to ``zero hour'' and ``ground zero.'' One (``in the beginning, all things were one'') allows discussion of the Peano postulates, which demonstrate how and why numbers run in sequence. Two leads to meditations on left-handedness and pairings of heroes and sidekicks. Three brings Fibonacci numbers, golden rectangles, prime numbers, pi, and jokes: ``How many Californians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Three: one to screw it in and two to share in the experience.'' Four suggests the four-color map problem. Five? ``Take five!'' Six includes anagrams--as well as antigrams, wherein ``The Waldorf'' becomes ``Dwarf Hotel.'' And so on up to infinity, which holds ``an infinitude of infinities.'' The approach is giggly, inventive (the discussion of eight includes a floor plan for a one-dimensional house), stuffed with arcana (13 is ``the only number for the fear of which we have a specific word in English: triskaidekaphobia''). Nimble nutty number play, as the authors make their case, four-square and to the nines, that ``no number is dull.'' (Line drawings) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Earlier works by Alexander and Nicholas Humez were alphabet books for grownups ( ABC Et Cetera , LJ 11/1/85; Alpha to Omega , LJ 7/81), and this is a kind of counting book for grownups. The entertaining free-form essays on numbers 1 through 13 (plus zero and infinity) discuss the linguistic roots of numerical expressions and related folklore, idioms, and mathematical diversions. For instance, the chapter on number 6 starts with the expression "six of one and half a dozen of the other" and goes on to discuss ways of talking about symmetry and equality, puns and jokes (linguistic mapping), mathematical mapping, set theory, syllogisms, and socialism. This book is fun to read, and it contributes a linguistic angle to the idea of numeracy, but given its approach, promoting it as a reference book is a mistake. Newbridge Book Club alternate.
- Amy Brunvand, Fort Lewis Coll. Lib., Durango, Col.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.