Native American mathematics

Book

Native American mathematics / edited by Michael P. Closs.

Summary:

There is no question that native cultures in the New World exhibit many forms of mathematical development. This Native American mathematics can best be described by considering the nature of the concepts found in a variety of individual New World cultures. Unlike modern mathematics in which numbers and concepts are expressed in universal mathematical notation, the numbers and concepts found in native cultures occur and are expressed in many distinctive ways. Native American Mathematics, edited by Michael P. Closs, is the first book to focus on mathematical development indigenous to the New World.

Record details

ISBN: 9780292711853
ISBN: 0292711859
ISBN: 0292755317
ISBN: 9780292755314
Physical Description: 431 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Publisher: Austin : University of Texas Press, (1996 printing) c1986.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references (pages 409-431).
Formatted Contents Note:: Native American number systems / Michael P. Closs -- Numerical representations in North American rock art / William Breen Murray -- Some notes on quantification and numerals in an Amazon Indian language / Maurizio Covaz Gnerre -- The calendrical and numerical systems of the Nootka / William J. Folan -- Chumash numerals -/ Madison S. Beeler -- Cultural ecology of mathematics: Ojibway and Inuit hunters / J. Peter Denny -- Tallies and the ritual use of number in Ojibway pictography / Michael P. Closs -- A survey of Aztec numbers and their uses / Stanley E. Payne and Michael P. Closs --Decipherment and some implications of Aztec numerical glyphs / Herbert R. Harvey and Barbara J. Williams -- Mathematical ideas of the Incas / Marcia Ascher -- The mathematical notation of the ancient Maya / Michael P. Closs -- The zero in the Mayan numerical notation / A. Seidenberg -- In search of Mesoamerican geometry / Francine Vinette.