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Mathematics Elsewhere: An Exploration of Ideas Across Cultures - Couverture rigide

Ascher, Marcia

 
9780691070209: Mathematics Elsewhere: An Exploration of Ideas Across Cultures
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 0691070202 ISBN 13 : 9780691070209
Editeur : Princeton University Press, 2002

Synopsis

This text contributes to a global view of mathematics. Presenting mathematical ideas of peoples from a variety of small-scale and traditional cultures, it humanizes our view of mathematics and expands our conception of what is mathematical. Through examples of how particular societies structure time, reach decisions about the future, make models and maps, systematize relationships and create intriguing figures, Marcia Ascher demonstrates that traditional cultures have mathematical ideas that are far more substantial and sophisticated than is generally acknowledged. Malagasy divination rituals, for example, rely on complex algebraic algorithms and some cultures use calendars far more abstract and elegant than our own. Ascher also shows that certain concepts assumed to be universal - that time is a single progression, for instance, or that equality is a static relationship - are not. The Basque notion of equivalence, for example, is a dynamic and temporal one not adequately captured by the familiar equal sign. Other ideas taken to be the exclusive province of professionally trained Western mathematicians are, in fact, shared by people in many societies. The ideas discussed come from geographically varied cultures, including the Borana and Malagasy of Africa, the Tongans and Marshall Islanders of Oceania, the Tamil of South India, the Basques of Western Europe and the Balinese and Kodi of Indonesia.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l'auteur

Marcia Ascher is Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Ithaca College. She is the coauthor of "Code of the Quipu: A Study in Media, Mathematics, and Culture" and the author of "Ethnomathematics: A Multicultural View of Mathematical Ideas".

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Princeton University Press
Date d'édition
2002
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0691070202
ISBN 13 
9780691070209
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
224
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible