| Description |
xxii, 633 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 x 24 cm |
| Note |
"First published in France with the title Histoire universelle des chiffres by Editions Robert Laffont. Paris, in 1994." |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
v. 1. Explaining the origins : ethnological and psychological approaches to the sources of numbers -- Base numbers and the birth of number systems -- The earliest calculating machine-- the hand -- How Cro-Magnon Man counted -- Tally sticks : accounting for beginners -- Numbers on strings -- Number, value and money -- Numbers of Sumer -- The enigma of the sexagesimal base -- The development of written numerals in Elam and Mesopotamia -- The decipherment of a five-thousand-year-old system -- How the Sumerians did their sums -- Mesopotamian numbering after the eclipse of Sumer -- The numbers of ancient Egypt -- Counting in the times of the Cretan and Hittite kings -- Greek and Roman numerals -- Letters and numbers -- The invention of alphabetic numerals -- Other alphabetic number-systems -- Magic, mysticism, divination, and other secrets -- The numbers of Chinese civilisation -- The amazing achievements of the Maya -- The final state of numerical notation -- Indian civilisation : the cradle of modern numerals -- Dictionary of the numeral symbols of Indian civilisation -- Indian numerals and calculation in the Islamic world -- The slow progress of Indo-Arabic numerals in Western Europe -- Beyond perfection. |
| Summary |
Chronicles the history of counting and calculating from the time of cave dwellers to the late twentieth century, examining how different cultures used numbers to solve basic problems related to their everyday needs. |
| Subject |
Numeration -- History.
|
|
Numerals -- History.
|
|
Numerals. (OCoLC)fst01041254
|
|
Numeration. (OCoLC)fst01041262
|
| Genre/Form |
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
| Added Author |
Bellos, David.
|
| Added Title |
Histoire universelle des chiffres (1994). 1, Aventure des chiffres. English
|
| ISBN |
0471375683 (acid-free paper) |
|
9780471375685 (acid-free paper) |
|
0965045501 |
|
9780965045506 |
|
0471393401 |
|
9780471393405 |
|
