--- title: Amir D. Aczel | TIME description: Amir D. Aczel, Ph.D., received graduate degrees in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Oregon. He is the author of the recently published book Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers and Why Science Does Not Disprove God and the acclaimed Fermat's Last Theorem, which has been published in 28 languages and was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and many other works of nonfiction. In 2012, he was awarded a Sloan Foundation grant for his groundbreaking research on the origin of numbers; in 2004, he was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. From 2005 to 2007, Aczel was a visiting scholar at Harvard University. He is currently a research fellow in the history of science at Boston University. He also writes for Discover magazine, regularly publishes in Scientific American, and has written science pieces for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. canonical: https://time.com/author/amir-d-aczel/ og:title: TIME | Current & Breaking News | National & World Updates og:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. og:url: https://time.com/author/amir-d-aczel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 300 og:image:height: 300 og:image:alt: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. og:type: profile twitter:card: summary twitter:title: TIME | Current & Breaking News | National & World Updates twitter:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Amir Aczel ## Amir Aczel Amir D. Aczel, Ph.D., received graduate degrees in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Oregon. He is the author of the recently published book [Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1137279842/?tag=timecom-20) and _Why Science Does Not Disprove God_ and the acclaimed _Fermat's Last Theorem_, which has been published in 28 languages and was nominated for a _Los Angeles Times_ Book Prize, and many other works of nonfiction. In 2012, he was awarded a Sloan Foundation grant for his groundbreaking research on the origin of numbers; in 2004, he was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. From 2005 to 2007, Aczel was a visiting scholar at Harvard University. He is currently a research fellow in the history of science at Boston University. He also writes for _Discover_ magazine, regularly publishes in _Scientific American_, and has written science pieces for the _New York Times_ and the _Wall Street Journal_. ## Amir Aczel *  May 7, 2015 ### [My Quest to Find the First Zero](https://time.com/3845786/my-quest-to-find-the-first-zero/) It's humanity’s great invention [IDEAS](/section/ideas/) *  Apr 27, 2014 ### [Why Science Does Not Disprove God](https://time.com/77676/why-science-does-not-disprove-god/) Biology, physics, mathematics, engineering and medicine help us understand the world, but there is m... 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Aczel, Ph.D., received graduate degrees in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Oregon. He is the author of the recently published book Finding Zero: A Mathematician's Odyssey to Uncover the Origins of Numbers and Why Science Does Not Disprove God and the acclaimed Fermat's Last Theorem, which has been published in 28 languages and was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and many other works of nonfiction. In 2012, he was awarded a Sloan Foundation grant for his groundbreaking research on the origin of numbers; in 2004, he was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. From 2005 to 2007, Aczel was a visiting scholar at Harvard University. He is currently a research fellow in the history of science at Boston University. He also writes for Discover magazine, regularly publishes in Scientific American, and has written science pieces for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.","url":"https://time.com/author/amir-d-aczel/","worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TIME","url":"https://time.com/"}}] ```