Invention of Zero

Clive Donovan

The cold perfection of Zero [Mark Strand]

It had to happen: The invention of zero.
Something had to be conceived to separate
positives and negatives—and to make ten,
for the customary gap was prone to error.
So from Brahmagupta's seed dot grew
Aryabhata's circle
and hero zero then was born—as a numeral.

                             0

But more than a short-cut trick of bookkeeping,
zero exposed minds to the infinite within and out
and shook with a shout that tiny cosmic model of those times;
their proof of God destroyed was most repellent to the Church,
which claimed that only devils lived in void.
And perhaps this point is true, as computers rule,
ceaseless in a binary twitch of bits—Zero & One—

                             0

winking in then out of existence—
Off /On,
Stop/Go,
Black/White,
Yes/No,
Wrong/Right,
You & Me.

The Science

The use of mathematics is fundamental to virtually all fields of science. Zero paved the way for development of the sophisticated measuring and recording techniques of algebra, calculus and statistical probabilities.

Even though zero was first used in the mundane process of book-keeping, it found an ardent enemy in the primitive religion of the time (usually a good sign that the new concept is on the right track!) The binary system (1+0) is, of course, the bedrock of computer science. Even more interesting is the fascinating concept of particles that 'wink in and out of existence' or hold the possibilities of both states simultaneously. The implications of zero disturbed the church elders a great deal because it implied a possible expansion of consciousness that would destroy one of the major proofs of the existence of God.

The Poet

Clive Donovan is the author of two poetry collections, The Taste of Glass (Cinnamon Press 2021) and Wound Up With Love (Lapwing 2022) and is published in a wide variety of magazines including Acumen, Agenda, Crannog, Popshot, Prole and Stand. He lives in Totnes, Devon, UK. He was a Pushcart and Forward Prize nominee for 2022’s best individual poems. 

Next poem: Like Something by Dale Tracy