The History of Counting

The History of Counting
Author: Denise Schmandt-Besserat
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 48
Release: 1999-08-25
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780688141189

Drawing on years of research, a renowned archaeologist traces the evolution of counting. She shows how the concept of numbers came about, how various societies answered the question "How many?," and how our modern-day decimal system was developed. Engrossing and enlightening, this fascinating book introduces children to one of our most important inventions. 00-01 Utah Book Award (Informational Books) Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council

A Quick History of Maths

A Quick History of Maths
Author: Clive Gifford
Publisher: Quick Histories
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2020-03-31
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0711249016

A Quick History of Maths is 43,000 years of mathematical discoveries packed into one book, plus lots of jokes.

Making History Count

Making History Count
Author: C. H. Feinstein
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 570
Release: 2002
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521001373

Making History Count introduces the main quantitative methods used in historical research. The emphasis is on intuitive understanding and application of the concepts, rather than formal statistics; no knowledge of mathematics beyond simple arithmetic is required. The techniques are illustrated by applications in social, political, demographic and economic history. Students will learn to read and evaluate the application of the quantitative methods used in many books and articles, and to assess the historical conclusions drawn from them. They will also see how quantitative techniques can open up new aspects of an enquiry, and supplement and strengthen other methods of research. This textbook will encourage students to recognize the benefits of using quantitative methods in their own research projects. The text is clearly illustrated with tables, graphs and diagrams, leading the student through key topics. Additional support includes five specific historical data-sets, available from the Cambridge website.

1-2-3 Dinosaurs Bite!

1-2-3 Dinosaurs Bite!
Author:
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company Incorporated
Total Pages: 18
Release: 2012
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781402777226

Five hungry dinosaurs appear to take bite-sized chunks out of the die-cut text, as readers can count the number of bites from one to five.

Numbers and the Making of Us

Numbers and the Making of Us
Author: Caleb Everett
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2017-03-13
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0674504437

“A fascinating book.” —James Ryerson, New York Times Book Review A Smithsonian Best Science Book of the Year Winner of the PROSE Award for Best Book in Language & Linguistics Carved into our past and woven into our present, numbers shape our perceptions of the world far more than we think. In this sweeping account of how the invention of numbers sparked a revolution in human thought and culture, Caleb Everett draws on new discoveries in psychology, anthropology, and linguistics to reveal the many things made possible by numbers, from the concept of time to writing, agriculture, and commerce. Numbers are a tool, like the wheel, developed and refined over millennia. They allow us to grasp quantities precisely, but recent research confirms that they are not innate—and without numbers, we could not fully grasp quantities greater than three. Everett considers the number systems that have developed in different societies as he shares insights from his fascinating work with indigenous Amazonians. “This is bold, heady stuff... The breadth of research Everett covers is impressive, and allows him to develop a narrative that is both global and compelling... Numbers is eye-opening, even eye-popping.” —New Scientist “A powerful and convincing case for Everett’s main thesis: that numbers are neither natural nor innate to humans.” —Wall Street Journal

Uncountable

Uncountable
Author: David Nirenberg
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 429
Release: 2021-10-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 022664698X

"From the time of Pythagoras, we have been tempted to treat numbers as the ultimate or only truth. This book tells the history of that habit of thought. But more, it argues that the logic of counting sacrifices much of what makes us human, and that we have a responsibility to match the objects of our attention to the forms of knowledge that do them justice. Humans have extended the insights and methods of number and mathematics to more and more aspects of the world, even to their gods and their religions.Today those powers are greater than ever, as computation is applied to virtually every aspect of human activity.But the rules of mathematics do not strictly apply to many things-from elementary particles to people-in the world.By subjecting such things to the laws of logic and mathematics, we gain some kinds of knowledge, but we also lose others. How do our choices about what parts of the world to subject to the logics of mathematics affect how we live and how we die?This question is rarely asked, but it is urgent, because the sciences built upon those laws now govern so much of our knowledge, from physics to psychology.Number and Knowledge sets out to ask it. In chapters proceeding chronologically from Ancient Greek philosophy and the rise of monotheistic religions to the emergence of modern physics and economics, the book traces how ideals, practices, and habits of thought formed over millennia have turned number into the foundation-stone of human claims to knowledge and certainty.But the book is also a philosophical and poetic exhortation to take responsibility for that history, for the knowledge it has produced, and for the many aspects of the world and of humanity that it ignores or endangers.To understand what can be counted and what can't is to embrace the ethics of purposeful knowing"--

Four Billion Years and Counting

Four Billion Years and Counting
Author: Robert A. Fensome
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing (CN)
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9781551099965

Canada's diverse landscape speaks to its fascinating geological history, from towering peaks to Prairie plains, from fertile farmlands of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands to rugged cliffs of the Atlantic shore. However, the modern landscape is just the latest episode in an epic story spanning more than 4 billion years. Four Billion Years and Counting unveils the geological history of Canada and makes connections between geology and social issues such as climate change, hazards such as landslides and earthquakes, and other environmental factors. The text features contributions from some 100 specialists, and is richly illustrated with over 500 colour photographs and diagrams. Four Billion Years and Counting is a fascinating exploration of Canada's geology for those who are intrigued by the landscape and the vital connection between ourselves and what lies beneath our feet.

Making Every History Lesson Count

Making Every History Lesson Count
Author: Chris Runeckles
Publisher: Crown House Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2018-10-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1785833790

Chris Runeckles' Making Every History Lesson Count: Six principles to support great history teaching offers lasting solutions to age-old problems and empowers history teachers with the confidence to bring their subject to life. Making EveryHistory Lesson Count goes in search of answers to the crucial question that all history teachers must ask: What can I do to help my students retain and interrogate the rich detail of the content that I deliver? Writing in the practical, engaging style of the award-winning Making Every Lesson Count, Chris Runeckles articulates the fundamentals of great history teaching and shares simple, realistic strategies designed to deliver memorable lessons. The book is underpinned by six pedagogical principles challenge, explanation, modelling, practice, feedback and questioning and equips history teachers with the tools and techniques to help students better engage with the subject matter and develop more sophisticated historical analysis and arguments. In an age of educational quick fixes and ever-moving goalposts, this carefully crafted addition to the Making Every Lesson Count series expertly bridges the gap between the realms of academic research and the humble classroom. It therefore marries evidence-based practice with collective experience and, in doing so, inspires a challenging approach to secondary school history teaching. Making EveryHistory Lesson Count has been written for new and experienced practitioners alike, offering gimmick-free advice that will energise them to more effectively carve out those unique moments of resonance with young people. Each chapter also concludes with a series of questions that will prompt reflective thought and enable educators to relate the content to their own classroom practice. Suitable for history teachers of students aged 11 to 16 years.

The Man of Numbers

The Man of Numbers
Author: Keith Devlin
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2011-11-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1408824574

In 1202, a 32-year old Italian finished one of the most influential books of all time, which introduced modern arithmetic to Western Europe. Devised in India in the seventh and eighth centuries and brought to North Africa by Muslim traders, the Hindu-Arabic system helped transform the West into the dominant force in science, technology, and commerce, leaving behind Muslim cultures which had long known it but had failed to see its potential. The young Italian, Leonardo of Pisa (better known today as Fibonacci), had learned the Hindu number system when he traveled to North Africa with his father, a customs agent. The book he created was Liber abbaci, the 'Book of Calculation', and the revolution that followed its publication was enormous. Arithmetic made it possible for ordinary people to buy and sell goods, convert currencies, and keep accurate records of possessions more readily than ever before. Liber abbaci's publication led directly to large-scale international commerce and the scientific revolution of the Renaissance. Yet despite the ubiquity of his discoveries, Leonardo of Pisa remains an enigma. His name is best known today in association with an exercise in Liber abbaci whose solution gives rise to a sequence of numbers - the Fibonacci sequence - used by some to predict the rise and fall of financial markets, and evident in myriad biological structures. In The Man of Numbers, Keith Devlin recreates the life and enduring legacy of an overlooked genius, and in the process makes clear how central numbers and mathematics are to our daily lives.

Making Care Count

Making Care Count
Author: Mignon Duffy
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2011-02-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0813550777

There are fundamental tasks common to every society: children have to be raised, homes need to be cleaned, meals need to be prepared, and people who are elderly, ill, or disabled need care. Day in, day out, these responsibilities can involve both monotonous drudgery and untold rewards for those performing them, whether they are family members, friends, or paid workers. These are jobs that cannot be outsourced, because they involve the most intimate spaces of our everyday lives--our homes, our bodies, and our families. Mignon Duffy uses a historical and comparative approach to examine and critique the entire twentieth-century history of paid care work--including health care, education and child care, and social services--drawing on an in-depth analysis of U.S. Census data as well as a range of occupational histories. Making Care Count focuses on change and continuity in the social organization along with cultural construction of the labor of care and its relationship to gender, racial-ethnic, and class inequalities. Debunking popular understandings of how we came to be in a "care crisis," this book stands apart as an historical quantitative study in a literature crowded with contemporary, qualitative studies, proposing well-developed policy approaches that grow out of the theoretical and empirical arguments.