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Author Butterworth, Brian, author.

Title Can fish count? : what animals reveal about our uniquely mathematical minds / Brian Butterworth.

Publication Info. New York : Basic Books, 2022.
©2022

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Newington, Lucy Robbins Welles Library - Adult Department  156.3 BUTTERWORTH    Check Shelf
Edition First US edition.
Description 368 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Contents The language of the universe -- Can humans count? - Bones, stones and the earliest counting words -- Can apes and monkeys count? -- Mammals great and small -- Can birds count? -- Can amphibians and reptiles count? -- Can fish count? -- Are bigger brains really better? -- What counts?
Summary "The philosopher Bertrand Russell once observed that realizing that a pair of apples and the passage of two days could somehow both be represented by the concept we call "two" was one of the most astonishing discoveries anyone had ever made. So what do we make of the incredible fact that animals seem to have inherent mathematical abilities? As cognitive psychologist Brian Butterworth shows us in Can Fish Count?, many "simple" animals--such as bees, which count trees and fence posts, and guppies, which can size up groups--have a sense of numbers. And unlike humans, they don't need to be taught. In telling animals' stories, Butterworth shines new light on one of our most ancient questions: Just where, exactly, do numbers come from? He reveals how insights gleaned from studying animals can help us make better sense of our own abilities. Full of discovery and delight, Can Fish Count? is an astonishing journey through the animal kingdom and the human mind"--Amazon.com
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-347) and index.
Subject Number concept in animals.
Number concept.
Mathematics -- Psychological aspects.
Mathematical ability.
Mathematical ability. (OCoLC)fst01012053
Mathematics -- Psychological aspects. (OCoLC)fst01012221
Number concept. (OCoLC)fst01041202
Number concept in animals. (OCoLC)fst01041210
Other Editions: Reproduction of (manifestation): Butterworth, Brian. Can fish count? London : Quercus, 2022 9781529411256
ISBN 9781541620810 (hardcover)
154162081X (hardcover)
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