String Figures as Mathematics? : An Anthropological Approach to String Figure-making in Oral Tradition Societies / by Eric Vandendriessche.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vandendriessche, Eric., Author.

Series:

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 0929-6425 ; 36

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematics.

History.

Philosophy and science.

History of Mathematical Sciences.

Philosophy of Science.

Local Subjects:

History of Mathematical Sciences.

Philosophy of Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (405 p.)

Edition:

1st ed. 2015.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book addresses the mathematical rationality contained in the making of string figures. It does so by using interdisciplinary methods borrowed from anthropology, mathematics, history and philosophy of mathematics. The practice of string figure-making has long been carried out in many societies, and particularly in those of oral tradition. It consists in applying a succession of operations to a string (knotted into a loop), mostly using the fingers and sometimes the feet, the wrists or the mouth. This succession of operations is intended to generate a final figure. The book explores different modes of conceptualization of the practice of string figure-making and analyses various source material through these conceptual tools: it looks at research by mathematicians, as well as ethnographical publications, and personal fieldwork findings in the Chaco, Paraguay, and in the Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea, which all give evidence of the rationality that underlies this activity. It concludes that the creation of string figures may be seen as the result of intellectual processes, involving the elaboration of algorithms, and concepts such as operation, sub-procedure, iteration, and transformation.

Contents:

PART I: HOW TO STUDY STRING FIGURE-MAKING

Chapter 1: String Figures and Ethnography

Chapter 2: A Conceptualization of String Figure-Making

PART II: MATHEMATICS AND STRING FIGURES

Chapter 3: W.W. Rouse Ball’s Mathematical Approach to String Figures

Chapter 4: Thomas Storer and the Concept of Heart-Sequence

PART III: ANALYSING STRING FIGURE ALGORITHMS

Chapter 5: Heart-Sequences and "Look-alike" String Figures

Chapter 6: Understanding Transformations

PART IV: STRING FIGURES IN THE FIELD

Chapter 7: Cultural and Cognitive Aspects of String Figure-Making in Two Different Societies

Chapter 8: Comparison of the Trobriander and Guarani-Nandeva String Figure Corpora

Chapter 9: Conclusion

References

Annexes.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

3-319-11994-X

OCLC:

903961801