1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910954952203321

Autore

Chrisomalis Stephen <1974->

Titolo

Numerical notation : a comparative history / / Stephen Chrisomalis

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2010

ISBN

1-107-21088-7

1-316-09961-X

1-282-53592-7

9786612535925

0-511-67809-6

0-511-67683-2

0-511-68132-1

0-511-68330-8

0-511-67606-9

0-511-67934-3

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (ix, 486 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

510

Soggetti

Mathematical notation - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Hieroglyphic systems -- Levantine systems -- Italic systems -- Alphabetic systems -- South Asian systems -- Mesopotamian systems -- East Asian systems -- Mesoamerican systems -- Miscellaneous systems -- Cognitive and structural analysis -- Social and historical analysis -- Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

This book is a cross-cultural reference volume of all attested numerical notation systems (graphic, non-phonetic systems for representing numbers), encompassing more than 100 such systems used over the past 5,500 years. Using a typology that defies progressive, unilinear evolutionary models of change, Stephen Chrisomalis identifies five basic types of numerical notation systems, using a cultural phylogenetic framework to show relationships between systems and to create a general theory of change in numerical systems. Numerical notation systems are primarily representational systems, not



computational technologies. Cognitive factors that help explain how numerical systems change relate to general principles, such as conciseness or avoidance of ambiguity, which apply also to writing systems. The transformation and replacement of numerical notation systems relates to specific social, economic, and technological changes, such as the development of the printing press or the expansion of the global world-system.