Numbers from nowhere : the American Indian contact population debate / David Henige.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Henige, David P.

Contributor:

NetLibrary, Inc.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indians--Population.

History--Methodology.

Indians.

Physical Description:

xi, 532 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [1998]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

In the past forty years an entirely new paradigm has developed regarding the contact population of the New World. Proponents of this new theory argue that the American Indian population in 1492 was ten, even twenty, times greater than previous estimates. In Numbers From Nowhere David Henige argues that the data on which these high counts are based are meager and often demonstrably wrong. Drawing on a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, Henige illustrates the use and abuse of numerical data throughout history. He shows that extrapolation of numbers is entirely subjective, however masked it may be by arithmetic, and he questions what constitutes valid evidence in historical and scientific scholarship.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [427]-517) and index.

Electronic reproduction. Boulder, Colo. : NetLibrary, 2000. Available via the World Wide Web. Available in multiple electronic file formats. Access may be limited to NetLibrary affiliated libraries.

ISBN:

0585146462

9780585146461

OCLC:

44953909

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.