For the past few weeks we鈥檝e been thinking about nothing. Not daydreaming or
meditating鈥攏othing as relaxing as that. In fact, when we started to
investigate nothing in all its many forms, we were surprised by how much there
is to it.
For a start, nothing could be harder to find. The obvious place to look for
the ultimate nothing, a perfect vacuum, is in deepest space. But even away from
people, stars and galaxies, space isn鈥檛 quite empty. After years of questing it
is only now that astronomers believe they have found substantial volumes of
nothing
(鈥淚nto the void鈥�, p 26).
And even these regions aren鈥檛 as empty as they seem. A vacuum may contain no
stuff, but it is packed with energy. Convinced that you can, after all, get
something from nothing, some physicists have spurred NASA into investigating
whether the energy trapped in a vacuum could power spaceships travelling to
distant worlds
(鈥淩unning on empty鈥� p 36).
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But why travel when you can stay put? Evolution has sculpted plenty of
animals until they are brilliantly adapted to going nowhere and doing nothing.
They are not always as idle as they seem: look at a python lazing in a tree and
you may find it鈥檚 working flat-out
(鈥淏usy doing nothing鈥� p 32).
And what about humans? How good a job has evolution done on us? A far from
perfect one, to judge by our various leftover organs, whose purpose we outlived
aeons ago. But are they really good for nothing, or could they have some hidden value
(鈥淲aste of space鈥� p 38)?
Nothing is certainly good for something in mathematics. Throughout the ages,
the number that stands for nothing has provided mathematicians with more
powerful tools, and more heartaches, than anything else. In fact, it鈥檚 fair to
say that the whole of mathematics rests on nothing, and many of the fiercest
mathematical controversies have turned out to be about nothing at all
(鈥淶ero, zilch and zip鈥� p 40).
So how do we feel, after all this investigative effort? Looking back, nothing
could have been more worthwhile. So please read on鈥攜ou have nothing to
lose.