000			02739cam a22003137a 4500
001			12813576
005			20240223143125.0
010			_a 2002108312
015			_aGBA2-70841
020			_a0691070202 (acidfree paper)
035			_a(OCoLC)ocm50487466
040			_aFNN _cFNN _dKUT _dNGU _dUKM _dJED _dOCLCQ _dWSL _dDLC
042			_alccopycat
050		0	_aQA21 _b.A83 2002
100	1		_aAscher, Marcia, _d1935-
245	0	0	_aMathematics elsewhere _ban exploration of ideas across cultures _cMarcia Ascher
260			_aPrinceton, N.J. _bPrinceton University Press _cc2002
300			_ax, 207 p. _bill., maps _c24 cm
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505	0		_aThe logic of divination -- Marking time -- Cycles of time -- Models and maps -- Systems of relationships -- Figures on the threshold -- Epilogue.
520			_aPresenting mathematical ideas of peoples from a variety of small-scale and traditional cultures, this book humanizes our view of mathematics and expands our conception of what is mathematical. Through engaging examples of how particular societies structure time, reach decisions about the future, make models and maps, systematize relationships, and create intriguing figures, Marcia Ascher demonstrates that traditional cultures have mathematical ideas that are far more substantial and sophisticated than is generally acknowledged. Malagasy divination rituals, for example, rely on complex algebraic algorithms. And some cultures use calendars far more abstract and elegant than our own. Ascher also shows that certain concepts assumed to be universal--that time is a single progression, for instance, or that equality is a static relationship--are not. The Basque notion of equivalence, for example, is a dynamic and temporal one not adequately captured by the familiar equal sign. Other ideas taken to be the exclusive province of professionally trained Western mathematicians are, in fact, shared by people in many societies. The ideas discussed come from geographically varied cultures, including the Borana and Malagasy of Africa, the Tongans and Marshall Islanders of Oceania, the Tamil of South India, the Basques of Western Europe, and the Balinese and Kodi of Indonesia.
650	1	0	_aMathematics _xHistory.
650	1	0	_aSocial history _xMathematics.
856	4	1	_3Table of contents _uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/prin031/2002108312.html
856	4	2	_3Publisher description _uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0705/2002108312-d.html
906			_a7 _bcbc _ccopycat _d2 _eepcn _f20 _gy-gencatlg
942			_2ddc _cNF
999			_c8853 _d8853