Africa and Mathematics (eBook)

From Colonial Findings Back to the Ishango Rods

Dirk Huylebrouck (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2019 | 1st ed. 2019
XV, 229 Seiten
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-030-04037-6 (ISBN)

Infos

This volume on ethnomathematics in Central Africa fills a gap in the current literature, focusing on a region rarely explored by other publications. It highlights the discovery of the Ishango rod, which was found to be the oldest mathematical tool in humanity's history, thereby shifting the origin of mathematics to the heart of Africa, and explores the different scientific hypotheses that emerged as a result. While it contains some high-level mathematics, the non-mathematical reader can easily skip these portions and enjoy the book's survey of African history, culture, and art.

Inhalt

Foreword.- Introduction.- Part I: Mathematics in the Heart of Africa.- 1. Rationale and Sources.- 2. Storytelling and Music.- 3. Creative Counting.- 4. Drawings.- 5. Reasoning Without Writing.- 6. Multiplication in the Yoruba and "Ethiopian" Way.- Part II: The Ishango Rod(s).- 7. The Ishango Site.- 8. Mathematical Carvings.- 9. Missing Link.- 10. Not Out of Africa.- 11. A Second Rod.- Part III: Epilogue.- 12. Museum Visit, Teaching, Research.- References.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.3.2019
• Reihe/Serie: Mathematics, Culture, and the Arts
• Reihe/Serie: Mathematics, Culture, and the Arts
• Zusatzinfo: XV, 229 p. 217 illus., 110 illus. in color.
• Verlagsort: Cham
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Schlagworte: African fractals • crystallography • Ethnomathematics • hieroglyph algorithm • Ishango rod • sand drawings
• ISBN-10: 3-030-04037-2 / 3030040372
• ISBN-13: 978-3-030-04037-6 / 9783030040376