The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics 1st Edition

by Stanislas Dehaene (Author)

16 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0195132403

ISBN-10: 0195132408

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The Number Sense is an enlightening exploration of the mathematical mind. Describing experiments that show that human infants have a rudimentary number sense, Stanislas Dehaene suggests that this sense is as basic as our perception of color, and that it is wired into the brain. Dehaene shows that it was the invention of symbolic systems of numerals that started us on the climb to higher mathematics. A fascinating look at the crossroads where numbers and neurons intersect, The Number Sense offers an intriguing tour of how the structure of the brain shapes our mathematical abilities, and how our mathematics opens up a window on the human mind.

The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics

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Product Details

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (December 9, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0195132408
ISBN-13: 978-0195132403
Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.8 x 6 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #561,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #366 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Psychology > Neuropsychology
- #497 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Psychology > Cognitive Psychology
- #776 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Neuropsychology

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Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars

5 star		75%
4 star		19%
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2 star		6%
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46 of 46 people found the following review helpful

A delight!

By Mark Rosa on January 25, 2000

Format: Hardcover

I immediately gave this book a glance-through upon seeing the title. The resemblance to Steven Pinker's 'The Language Instinct' and his quote at the bottom hooked me, and the inside didn't disappoint. A lot of people have written books questioning why we don't understand math; here's someone who wonders why we do.
Regarding the part about memorization - I assume that the numbers shown to the test subjects were our European numerals in all cases. I wonder what would happen if Chinese digits were used -- they all look distinct, in comparison to, say, our ambiguous 6 and 9, which can be confusing (ever see "1 2 3 4 5 SIX 7 8 NINE" on a gambling table to avoid this?). Can people recognize Chinese digits faster?
(And Ronald, I too immediately formed a Japanese mnemonic upon seeing the string of digits in that chapter. Unconsciously, in fact. The five/nine ambiguity disappeared!)
One quibble is that Dehaene seems to fall into the trap that many people - mathematicians included - blindly accept as fact; the idea that the European numerals that we use every day are superior to anything else. 'It's hard to see how they could be improved upon', he says, (or something to that effect - I'm doing this from memory). Arabic numerals (by which I mean those used by Arabic-speaking people, not the European variations that 'we' use) have the advantage of all being written without lifting your pen, and Chinese digits, for which trying to distinguish between, say, "160" and "180" in very small print is no problem. When you think about it, any place-value system with a zero is equally effective regardless of the forms of the numerals.Read more ›

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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

An excellent book

By Ron on April 13, 1998

Format: Hardcover

I have not yet finished Stanislas Dahaene's excellent book "The Number Sense". But I would like to add an observation on chapter 4. The author discusses many studies which show that persons whose native language uses number names stemming from Chinese, such as Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, can remember much longer strings of numbers, on average, than speakers of such western languages as English or French. He attributes this to the shorter length of the spoken names of the numbers in the eastern languages. However, another important factor in Japanese, at least, must be the ease with which meaningful mnemonics can be made. Japanese effectively has three different ways to name each digit. One stems from Chinese (ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyuu, juu), another is the native Japanese counting system predating Chinese influence (hitotsu, futatsu, mitsu,yotsu,itsutsu,mutsu,nanatsu,yatsu,kokonotus,too) and the third is from English (wan, tsuu, suree, foah, etc.). The digit zero can be named as "oh" from the English letter "O", or "ma" from "maru" meaning circle, etc. It is almost always possible to make an easily remembered mnemonic. This way commercial telephone numbers are made easier to remember in advertisements. (Japanese telephones have only digits on the buttons, no added letters.) Telephone numbers for pet shops and veterinarians often have pairs of ones, "11". Because "wan wan" is the Japanese equivelant of "arf arf". The dentist downstairs in my building uses the number "1818" because "ii ha, ii ha" means "good tooth good tooth". Mr.Read more ›

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

By A Customer on November 20, 1997

Format: Hardcover

I am very grateful to the friend who directed me to an article in last July's issue of "Discover" that describes Stanislas Dehaene's new book "The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics." The article highlights the examples Dehaene gives of people who have brain injuries that destroy their ability to do parts of arithmetic, while leaving other skills intact. Dehaene combines these examples with evidence from reaction time experiments and from new brain imaging techniques to make a compelling case that we share with other animals an analog method for dealing with quantitative information. He uses the metaphors of a mental number line and an analog accumulator, and notes that these may be more than just metaphors. Anyone interested in the teaching and learning of arithmetic must read this book. And it is so well written -- in English by a Frenchman! -- and contains so much new informnation that it can be recommended to everyone.
Dehaene goes beyond the biological heritage we share with other animals to consider how the language processing parts of our brain contribute to our ability to do arithmetic. He also gives a clear and complete description of why hindu-arabic numerals are now universal, noting that place value systems arose independently in four different civilizations. In all, he makes a compelling case that those of us interested in the teaching of arithmetic have to pay attention both to evolution and to the intelligent design of numeral systems.
Dehaene gives examples of how our non-linguisitic, linguistic, and cultural heritages interact in our doing arithmetic, and of what can go wrong when they are out of sync.Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

A fine book.

Great background for understanding our innate sense for math. Well written and logical. Anyone teaching mathematics to any age will benefit from reading it.

Published on September 15, 2012 by K.T. Klassen

This is the older edition

An updated second edition, published 2011, can be found here: The Number Sense : How the Mind Creates Mathematics, Revised and Updated Edition. Read more

Published on August 11, 2011 by whiteelephant

Good summary of research on the psychology/neuroscience of numerosity

I got this book as a gift and wasn't expecting too much. It's a little dry -- you'll be exercising your number sense while you count the pages until the end -- but it's very... Read more

Published on November 13, 2010 by Amazon Customer

Outdated

Dr. Dehanae has continued his research. Neuroscience has advanced so far in the last 10 years that there is very little to glean from this this book. Read more

Published on September 18, 2010 by Swells

Extremely interesting book with good explanations of science involved

I enjoyed this book very much and was impressed by the knowledge of the author. He explained some quite complicated science in an easy to understand manner. Read more

Published on May 21, 2010 by V. S. Arnett

A Great Work About Mathematics and the Mind

Let me start by saying that I have a large interest in both the fields of mathematics and neuroscience. Read more

Published on November 4, 2008 by Joshua Grooms

"The number sense" revealed

This is a masterful account of how people, and animals, use their number sense to bring mathematics into their world. Read more

Published on October 13, 2007 by William Shardlow

Illuminating work

Dehaene is a witty, gifted writer with an invisible style. He elucidates his subject matter so plainly that no one could be lost. Read more

Published on July 17, 2007 by Julie

Good book

This book is a tour de force of neurology as it applies to mathematics. From anectodes and case studies of mathematical greats and autistic calculating prodigies to brain scans and... Read more

Published on August 7, 2006 by FPSFAN

Amazing, objective research scores an A!

Fascinating. That's the word I've been using to describe this book. From the information on numerical experiments with animals to the solid evidence presented for the hardwired... Read more

Published on January 1, 2002 by Rod J.

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