Mathematician, author and lecturer **Amir Aczel** reads from his new book, _Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey To Uncover The Origins Of Numbers,_ the result of Aczel's relentless obsession to find the origins of numerals. Travel with him through history, examining glyphs of early Babylonian, Hindu, Arabic and finally Roman, ultimately leading him into the jungles of the far East. There he finds the earliest zero—the keystone of our entire system of numbers—on a crumbling, vine-covered wall of a seventh-century temple. (Photo: Debra Aczel) >> Hear Aczel's interview with Eric Westervelt on [NPR’s Weekend Edition.](http://www.npr.org/2015/01/03/374737120/the-zig-zagging-history-of-the-number-zero "Weekend Edition")
**Amir D. Aczel** is the author of numerous nonfiction books, including the international bestseller *Fermat's Last Theorem*, which was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Award and has been translated into 22 languages. Aczel has appeared on more than 30 television programs, including nationwide appearances on the CBS Evening News, CNN, CNBC, and Nightline, and on more than a hundred and fifty radio programs, including NPR's *Weekend Edition* and *Morning Edition*. Aczel is a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.