Africa counts : number and pattern in African cultures / Claudia Zaslavsky.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zaslavsky, Claudia.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnomathematics--Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Ethnomathematics.

Games--Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Games.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (369 pages)

Edition:

3rd ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago, Ill. : Lawrence Hill Books, 1999.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This fascinating study of mathematical thinking among sub-Saharan African peoples covers counting in words and in gestures; measuring time, distance, weight, and other quantities; manipulating money and keeping accounts; number systems; patterns in music, poetry, art, and architecture; and number magic and taboos. African games such as mankala and elaborate versions of tic-tac-toe show how complex this thinking can be. An invaluable resource for students, teachers, and others interested in African cultures and multiculturalism, this third edition is updated with an introduction

Contents:

Front Cover; Copyright ; Dedication ; CONTENTS; FOREWORD TO THE 1999 EDITION; FOREWORD TO THE 1973 EDITION; PREFACE TO THE 1973 EDITION; SECTION 1 THE BACKGROUND; 1 African Mathematics?; 2 Historical Background; SECTION 2 NUMBERS-WORDS, GESTURES, SIGNIFICANCE; 3 Construction of Numeration Systems; 4 How Africans Count; 5 Taboos and Mysticism; SECTION 3 NUMBERS IN DAILY LlFE; 6 The African Concept of Time; 7 Numbers and Money; 8 Those Familiar Weights and Measures!; 9 Record-Keeping: Sticks and Strings; SECTION 4 MATHEMATICAL RECREATIONS; 10 Games to Grow On

11 The Game Played by Kings and Cowherds-and Presidents, Too!; 12 Magic Squares; SECTION 5 PATTERN AND SHAPE; 13 Geometric Form in Architecture; 14 Part I: Geometric Form and Pattern in Art; 14a Part II: Geometric Symmetries in African Art, By D. W. Crowe, with Original Drawings; SECTION 6 REGIONAL STUDY: SOUTHWEST NIGERIA; 15 History of the Yoruba States and Benin; 16 Systems of Numeration; 17 Significant Numbers; 18 Time-Reckoning; 19 Markets and Currency; SECTION 7 REGIONAL STUDY: EAST AFRICA; 20 History of East Africa; 21 Spoken and Gesture Counting; 22 Number Superstitions

23 East African Time; 24 Wealth Means Cattle-and Other Livestock; SECTION 8 PAST AND FUTURE; 25 Pure Mathematics in Africa; 26 Update: Twenty-Five Years Later; APPENDIX; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; CHAPTER REFERENCES AND NOTES; BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Marianne Schmidl; D. W. Crowe; Frank E. Chapman, Jr.; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX; Section A. Africa: Peoples, Languages, Geography; Section B. Subjects and Selected Authors; MAPS: Africa Today; Peoples Discussed in the Text; Africa: Geographic Features and Ancient Cities; Old Sudanic Kingdoms; Distribution of Numeration Systems in Africa; Sixteenth-Century States of the Nigerian Region; Eastern Africa: Countries and Peoples

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [333]-342) and index.

ISBN:

9781613741146

1613741146

9781613741153

1613741154

OCLC:

843204342