The Universal History of Numbers: from Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer

From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer

G Ifrah (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

656 Seiten

1999
John Wiley & Sons Inc (Verlag)
978-0-471-37568-5 (ISBN)

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"Monumental [and] dazzling. A wonderful gift."-Kirkus Reviews"Georges Ifrah is the man, and this book, quite simply, rules...It is outstanding ...a mind-boggling and enriching experience."-Guardian (London)"Monumental ...a fascinating journey taking us through many different cultures."-The Times (London)"Ifrah's book amazes and fascinates by the scope of its scholarship. It is nothing less than the history of the human race told through figures."-International Herald TribuneA riveting history of numbers from the time of the cave dwellers to the twentieth century, this landmark international bestseller is the first complete, universal study of the invention and evolution of numbers the world over. Georges Ifrah brings numbers to thrilling life, explaining their development in human terms, the interesting situations that made them necessary, and the brilliant achievements in human thought that they made possible. The reader is taken through the numbers story from Europe to China, via ancient Greece and Rome, Mesopotamia, Latin America, India, and the Arabic countries. Exploring the many ways civilizations develop

Georges Ifrah is an independent scholar and former math teacher. David Bellos, the primary translator, is Professor of French at Princeton University. Sophie Wood, cotranslator, is a specialist in technical translation from French. Ian Monk, cotranslator, has translated the works of Georges Perec and Daniel Pennac.

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 Stage of Numerical Notation. Part I: Indian Civilisation: The Cradle of Modern Numerals. Part II: 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. Bibliography. Index of Names and Subjects.

Erscheint lt. Verlag	11.1.2000
Zusatzinfo	illustrations, maps
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	234 x 257 mm
Gewicht	1644 g
Themenwelt	Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Geschichte der Mathematik
ISBN-10	0-471-37568-3 / 0471375683
ISBN-13	978-0-471-37568-5 / 9780471375685
Zustand	Neuware