Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Everett, Caleb
Titre(s) : Numbers and the making of us [Texte imprimé] : counting and the course of human cultures / Caleb Everett
Publication : Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University press, 2017
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (viii, 297 pages) : illustrations ; 22 cm
Comprend : Prologue: On the success of our species ; Part One. Numbers pervade the human experience:
Numbers woven into our present ; Numbers carved into our past ; A numerical journey
around the world today ; Beyond number words: other kinds of numeric language ;
Part Two. Worlds without numbers: Anumeric people today ; Quantities in the minds
of young children ; Quantities in the minds of animals ; Part Three. Numbers and
the shaping of our lives: Inventing numbers and arithmetic ; Numbers and culture:
subsistence and symbolism ; Transformative tools.
Note(s) : Includes bibliographical references and index
Numbers and the Making of Us examines the origins and effects of numbers--words and
other symbols for quantities. It focuses on the influence that numbers have had on
human thought. As a result of this influence, the book claims, numbers transformed
the human narrative. This transformation is supported by data from many disciplines:
archaeology, linguistics, psychology, and primatology. The book surveys the types
of number systems that have been innovated independently in languages around the world,
most of which (like our own decimal system) owe themselves in one way or another to
the shape of our hands. Furthermore, the book examines evidence from anumeric humans,
such as those the author has conducted research with in Amazonia, as it advances the
following claim: Numbers served as a pivotal cognitive invention, an underappreciated
tool whose usage ultimately resulted in the societies most of us now live in. In short,
the book suggests that verbal and written numbers served as a cognitive foundation
of sorts, helping to establish the ground floor of all sorts of distinctly human behaviors.
These include elaborate agriculture, writing, the telling of time, and many other
aspects of the human experience that are all ultimately dependent on the simple invention
of numbers.
Sujet(s) : Numération -- Études transculturelles
Nombre, Idée de -- Études transculturelles
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9780674504431. - ISBN 0674504437
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb45242739s
Notice n° :
FRBNF45242739
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)