Overview

This book explores one of humanity's most profound intellectual journeys — the creation of numbers themselves. Moving beyond a simple chronological history of mathematics, this book examines the ideas and cultural contexts that gave rise to new kinds of numbers, from the earliest counting systems to the concepts of infinity.Drawing on sources from mathematics, archaeology, linguistics, and psychology, the author traces how different civilizations — including ancient Greece, China, and the Arabic world — shaped the evolution of numerical thought. Readers are guided to original texts (many newly translated and linked to online versions) to see how numbers were understood in their own time.An extensively revised and expanded version of the author's earlier The Emergence of Number (1987), this edition offers two new chapters on infinite numbers and infinitesimals, along with broader cross-cultural perspectives. Rich in historical insight yet accessible to modern readers, this book illuminates how human creativity and abstraction transformed counting into the vast landscape of modern mathematics.

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9789819826216

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