Africa counts : number and pattern in African cultures / / Claudia Zaslavsky

• Autore: Zaslavsky Claudia
• Pubblicazione: Chicago, Ill., : Lawrence Hill Books, 1999
• Edizione: 3rd ed.
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (369 pages)
• Disciplina: 510
• Soggetto topico: Ethnomathematics - Africa, Sub-Saharan; Games - Africa, Sub-Saharan
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [333]-342) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front Cover; Copyright ; Dedication ; CONTENTS; FOREWORD TO THE 1999 EDITION; FOREWORD TO THE 1973 EDITION; PREFACE TO THE 1973 EDITION; SECTION 1 THE BACKGROUND; 1 African Mathematics?; 2 Historical Background; SECTION 2 NUMBERS-WORDS, GESTURES, SIGNIFICANCE; 3 Construction of Numeration Systems; 4 How Africans Count; 5 Taboos and Mysticism; SECTION 3 NUMBERS IN DAILY LlFE; 6 The African Concept of Time; 7 Numbers and Money; 8 Those Familiar Weights and Measures!; 9 Record-Keeping: Sticks and Strings; SECTION 4 MATHEMATICAL RECREATIONS; 10 Games to Grow On ; 11 The Game Played by Kings and Cowherds-and Presidents, Too!; 12 Magic Squares; SECTION 5 PATTERN AND SHAPE; 13 Geometric Form in Architecture; 14 Part I: Geometric Form and Pattern in Art; 14a Part II: Geometric Symmetries in African Art, By D. W. Crowe, with Original Drawings; SECTION 6 REGIONAL STUDY: SOUTHWEST NIGERIA; 15 History of the Yoruba States and Benin; 16 Systems of Numeration; 17 Significant Numbers; 18 Time-Reckoning; 19 Markets and Currency; SECTION 7 REGIONAL STUDY: EAST AFRICA; 20 History of East Africa; 21 Spoken and Gesture Counting; 22 Number Superstitions ; 23 East African Time; 24 Wealth Means Cattle-and Other Livestock; SECTION 8 PAST AND FUTURE; 25 Pure Mathematics in Africa; 26 Update: Twenty-Five Years Later; APPENDIX; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; CHAPTER REFERENCES AND NOTES; BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Marianne Schmidl; D. W. Crowe; Frank E. Chapman, Jr.; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX; Section A. Africa: Peoples, Languages, Geography; Section B. Subjects and Selected Authors; MAPS: Africa Today; Peoples Discussed in the Text; Africa: Geographic Features and Ancient Cities; Old Sudanic Kingdoms; Distribution of Numeration Systems in Africa; Sixteenth-Century States of the Nigerian Region; Eastern Africa: Countries and Peoples
• Sommario/riassunto: This fascinating study of mathematical thinking among sub-Saharan African peoples covers counting in words and in gestures; measuring time, distance, weight, and other quantities; manipulating money and keeping accounts; number systems; patterns in music, poetry, art, and architecture; and number magic and taboos. African games such as mankala and elaborate versions of tic-tac-toe show how complex this thinking can be. An invaluable resource for students, teachers, and others interested in African cultures and multiculturalism, this third edition is updated with an introduction
• Titolo autorizzato: Africa counts
• ISBN: 1-61374-114-6; 1-61374-115-4
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910823268703321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II