Quipus and Witches' Knots

Quipus and Witches' Knots
Author: Cyrus Lawrence Day
Publisher: Lawrence : U. of Kansas P.
Total Pages: 178
Release: 1967
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Shows how know were used to record dates, numbers, and cultural traditions, to cure diseases, bewistch enemies, and control the forces of nature, to tie things and hold things together.

Quipus and Witches' Knots

Quipus and Witches' Knots
Author: Cyrus Lawence Day
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2021-10-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0700631461

This essay in cultural anthropology provides a comprehensive view of the way primitive people in all parts of the world once utilized knots; mnemonic knots—to record dates, numbers, and cultural traditions; magic knots—to cure diseases, bewitch enemies, and control the forces of nature; and practical knots—to tie things and hold things together. In his discussion of mnemonic knots, the author analyzes the Peruvian quipus (or knot-calendars and knot-records) and suggests that the Inca astronomer-priests, known to have been accurate observers of the movements of the planets, may also have been able to predict the dates of lunar eclipses; and he shows how it is possible to manipulate the Ina abacus in accordance with the decimal system. His treatment of magic knots includes instances from Babylonian times to the present, with curious examples of the supernatural power attributed to the Hercules knot (i.e., the square knot) in Egypt, Greece, and Rome. His analysis of a little-known treatise on surgeons’ slings and nooses, written by the Green physician Heraklas, is the first detailed account of the specific practical knots used by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Quipus and Witches’ Knots, which is abundantly illustrated, often surprises the reader with the unexpected ways in which the once universal dependence of men on knots has left its mark on the language, customs, and thought of modern civilized peoples.

History and Science of Knots

History and Science of Knots
Author: John Christopher Turner
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 463
Release: 1996
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 9810224699

In view of the explosion of mathematical theories of knots in the past decade, with consequential applications, this book sets down a brief, fragmentary history of mankind's oldest and most useful technical and decorative device - the knot.

Narrative Threads

Narrative Threads
Author: Jeffrey Quilter
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2010-07-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0292774338

The Inka Empire stretched over much of the length and breadth of the South American Andes, encompassed elaborately planned cities linked by a complex network of roads and messengers, and created astonishing works of architecture and artistry and a compelling mythology—all without the aid of a graphic writing system. Instead, the Inkas' records consisted of devices made of knotted and dyed strings—called khipu—on which they recorded information pertaining to the organization and history of their empire. Despite more than a century of research on these remarkable devices, the khipu remain largely undeciphered. In this benchmark book, twelve international scholars tackle the most vexed question in khipu studies: how did the Inkas record and transmit narrative records by means of knotted strings? The authors approach the problem from a variety of angles. Several essays mine Spanish colonial sources for details about the kinds of narrative encoded in the khipu. Others look at the uses to which khipu were put before and after the Conquest, as well as their current use in some contemporary Andean communities. Still others analyze the formal characteristics of khipu and seek to explain how they encode various kinds of numerical and narrative data.

Understanding Annie Proulx

Understanding Annie Proulx
Author: Karen Lane Rood
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
Total Pages: 624
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781570034022

In this study, independent scholar Rood introduces students and the interested reader to the writings of contemporary American writer Annie Proulx. Coverage includes a discussion of the major themes in Proulx's well-known novels such as Postcards, Accordion Crimes, and The Shipping News as well as three others. Rood also provides background information on Proulx's life and her development as a writer. c. Book News Inc.

Knots, Low-Dimensional Topology and Applications

Knots, Low-Dimensional Topology and Applications
Author: Colin C. Adams
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2019-06-26
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3030160319

This proceedings volume presents a diverse collection of high-quality, state-of-the-art research and survey articles written by top experts in low-dimensional topology and its applications. The focal topics include the wide range of historical and contemporary invariants of knots and links and related topics such as three- and four-dimensional manifolds, braids, virtual knot theory, quantum invariants, braids, skein modules and knot algebras, link homology, quandles and their homology; hyperbolic knots and geometric structures of three-dimensional manifolds; the mechanism of topological surgery in physical processes, knots in Nature in the sense of physical knots with applications to polymers, DNA enzyme mechanisms, and protein structure and function. The contents is based on contributions presented at the International Conference on Knots, Low-Dimensional Topology and Applications – Knots in Hellas 2016, which was held at the International Olympic Academy in Greece in July 2016. The goal of the international conference was to promote the exchange of methods and ideas across disciplines and generations, from graduate students to senior researchers, and to explore fundamental research problems in the broad fields of knot theory and low-dimensional topology. This book will benefit all researchers who wish to take their research in new directions, to learn about new tools and methods, and to discover relevant and recent literature for future study.

tacking and a tacktical methodology

tacking and a tacktical methodology
Author: Louisa Bufardeci
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2024-10-10
Genre: Art
ISBN: 900470695X

How can artists (and others) who find themselves in positions of privilege think differently about the way they do what they do in order to create the conditions for better, more just relations to flourish? Finding an answer to that question is at the heart of this book. After critiquing the relationship between contemporary art, race and privilege the author brings together First Nation and feminist philosophies of relationality, the game of string figuring, and her own history as an artist to propose an alternate methodology that puts relation at the centre of practice. She introduces the multivalent concept of “tacking”—a movement at an oblique angle to prevailing winds—in order to traverse the waters of contemporary art to challenge power and create a more just future.

Mathematics of the Incas

Mathematics of the Incas
Author: Marcia Ascher
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2013-01-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0486152707

Unique, thought-provoking study discusses quipu, an accounting system employing knotted, colored cords, used by Incas. Cultural context, mathematics involved, and even how to make a quipu. Over 125 illustrations.