Why do the Nuer stipulate forty cattle in brideprice? Why is the number ten so important in North American mythology? What does the anthropologist Clifford Geertz really mean to say when he talks about the correspondence of Balinese time cycles? Numbers play some part, often quite central, in almost all known cultures, yet until now the subject has never been examined in detail from an anthropological perspective. This book is the first attempt to find out how people in a wide range of diverse cultures and in different historical contexts, use and understand numbers. The opening chapters provide the basis for looking at the way numbers operate in different contexts, by looking at the logical, psychological and linguistic implications. The following eight chapters deal with specific themes: ethnoscience, politics, measurement, time, money, music, games and architecture. The final chapter relates such operations to social, economic and cultural factors.
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'The book makes a lively, well-informed, and thoroughly unconventional contribution to its subject ... it should and will be read by any with an interest in this branch of anthropology.' R. H. Barnes, Anthropos
'Crump has soothed, stimulated, and occasionally transported me in the contemplation of numbers and mysteries.' Eric Korn, The London Review of Books
'Crump has soothed, stimulated, and occasionally transported me in the contemplation of numbers and mysteries.' Eric Korn, The London Review of Books
Book Description
Until now the role of numbers in cultures has never been examined in detail from an anthropological perspective. This book is the first attempt to find out how people in a wide range of diverse cultures, as well as historical contexts, use and understand them.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
When it comes to mankind's use and understanding of numbers, what are the simple facts of life? Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
numerical lexicon, traditional numeracy, operative pattern, numerical base, numerical principles, numerical basis, cardinal numbers, numerical skills, ordinal numbers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Angkor Wat, Kannon Buddha, Saint Gall, Siassi Islands, Kpelle of Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Bemba of Zambia, Book of Revelation, Mount Meru New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
When it comes to mankind's use and understanding of numbers, what are the simple facts of life? Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
numerical lexicon, traditional numeracy, operative pattern, numerical base, numerical principles, numerical basis, cardinal numbers, numerical skills, ordinal numbers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Angkor Wat, Kannon Buddha, Saint Gall, Siassi Islands, Kpelle of Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Bemba of Zambia, Book of Revelation, Mount Meru New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
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61
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- Society and the Dance: The Social Anthropology of Process and Performance by Paul Spencer on 5 pages
- Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology; Part 6, Medicine by Joseph Needham in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso) by Dante Alighieri on page 113, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Kinship and Marriage among the Nuer (Clarendon Paperbacks) by Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Suite anglaise by Julien Green in Front Matter, and Back Matter
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- A Brief History of Science (The Brief History) by Thomas Crump on 7 pages
- A Brief History of Science: As Seen Through the Development of Scientific Instruments by Thomas Crump on 6 pages
- The Music of Anthony Braxton: (Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance) by Mike Heffley on page 414, and Back Matter
- Literacy: An Introduction to the Ecology of Written Language by David Barton in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Science and an African Logic by Helen Verran on page 252, and Back Matter
See all 61 books citing this book
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