Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures

Awards:   Winner of PROSE Awards 2018
Author:   Caleb Everett
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
ISBN:  

9780674237810


Pages:   312
Publication Date:   22 April 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
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Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures


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Awards

  • Winner of PROSE Awards 2018

Overview

Full Product Details

Author:   Caleb Everett
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
Imprint:   Harvard University Press
ISBN:  

9780674237810


ISBN 10:   0674237811
Pages:   312
Publication Date:   22 April 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

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Reviews

Caleb Everett provides a fascinating account of the development of human numeracy, from innate abilities to the complexities of agricultural and trading societies, all viewed against the general background of human cultural evolution. He successfully draws together insights from linguistics, cognitive psychology, anthropology, and archaeology in a way that is accessible to the general reader as well as to specialists. He does not avoid controversy, making this a key contribution to a developing debate.--Bernard Comrie, University of California, Santa Barbara A fascinating book.--James Ryerson New York Times Book Review (05/07/2017) In this multi-disciplinary investigation, anthropologist Caleb Everett examines the seemingly limitless possibilities and innovations made possible by the evolution of number systems.--Rachel E. Gross Smithsonian (12/05/2017) In his journey through the millennia of human evolution, from the forests of Amazonia to the deserts of Australia, ever in search of a better understanding of human diversity, Caleb Everett presents a breathtaking narrative of how the human species developed one of its most distinct cognitive and linguistic achievements: to count and to use concepts of quantity to expand and enrich a wide range of cultural activities.--Bernd Heine, University of Cologne Fascinating...This is bold, heady stuff...The breadth of research Everett covers is impressive, and allows him to develop a narrative that is both global and compelling. He is as much at home describing the niceties of experimental work in cognitive science as he is discussing arcane tribal rituals and the technical details of grammar...It is often poignant, and makes a virtue of the author's experiences with some of the indigenous peoples he describes, based on a childhood following his missionary parents--in particular his famous father, Daniel Everett--into the Amazon jungle...Numbers is eye-opening, even eye-popping. And it makes a powerful case for language, as a cultural invention, being central to the making of us.-- (05/03/2017) Everett buttresses his argument with an impressive array of studies from different fields...It all adds up to a powerful and convincing case for Everett's main thesis: that numbers are neither natural nor innate to humans but 'a creation of the human mind, a cognitive invention that has altered forever how we see and distinguish quantities.' His argument that numbers played a crucial role in the development of agriculture and the complex societies it supported is equally persuasive. -- (04/07/2017)


Caleb Everett provides a fascinating account of the development of human numeracy, from innate abilities to the complexities of agricultural and trading societies, all viewed against the general background of human cultural evolution. He successfully draws together insights from linguistics, cognitive psychology, anthropology, and archaeology in a way that is accessible to the general reader as well as to specialists. He does not avoid controversy, making this a key contribution to a developing debate.--Bernard Comrie, University of California, Santa Barbara A fascinating book.--James Ryerson New York Times Book Review (05/07/2017) In his journey through the millennia of human evolution, from the forests of Amazonia to the deserts of Australia, ever in search of a better understanding of human diversity, Caleb Everett presents a breathtaking narrative of how the human species developed one of its most distinct cognitive and linguistic achievements: to count and to use concepts of quantity to expand and enrich a wide range of cultural activities.--Bernd Heine, University of Cologne In this multi-disciplinary investigation, anthropologist Caleb Everett examines the seemingly limitless possibilities and innovations made possible by the evolution of number systems.--Rachel E. Gross Smithsonian (12/05/2017) Fascinating...This is bold, heady stuff...The breadth of research Everett covers is impressive, and allows him to develop a narrative that is both global and compelling. He is as much at home describing the niceties of experimental work in cognitive science as he is discussing arcane tribal rituals and the technical details of grammar...It is often poignant, and makes a virtue of the author's experiences with some of the indigenous peoples he describes, based on a childhood following his missionary parents--in particular his famous father, Daniel Everett--into the Amazon jungle...Numbers is eye-opening, even eye-popping. And it makes a powerful case for language, as a cultural invention, being central to the making of us.-- (05/03/2017) Everett buttresses his argument with an impressive array of studies from different fields...It all adds up to a powerful and convincing case for Everett's main thesis: that numbers are neither natural nor innate to humans but 'a creation of the human mind, a cognitive invention that has altered forever how we see and distinguish quantities.' His argument that numbers played a crucial role in the development of agriculture and the complex societies it supported is equally persuasive. -- (04/07/2017)


A fascinating book. -- James Ryerson * New York Times Book Review * Fascinating…This is bold, heady stuff…The breadth of research Everett covers is impressive, and allows him to develop a narrative that is both global and compelling. He is as much at home describing the niceties of experimental work in cognitive science as he is discussing arcane tribal rituals and the technical details of grammar…It is often poignant, and makes a virtue of the author’s experiences with some of the indigenous peoples he describes, based on a childhood following his missionary parents—in particular his famous father, Daniel Everett—into the Amazon jungle…Numbers is eye-opening, even eye-popping. And it makes a powerful case for language, as a cultural invention, being central to the making of us. -- Vyvyan Evans * New Scientist * Everett buttresses his argument with an impressive array of studies from different fields…It all adds up to a powerful and convincing case for Everett’s main thesis: that numbers are neither natural nor innate to humans but ‘a creation of the human mind, a cognitive invention that has altered forever how we see and distinguish quantities.’ His argument that numbers played a crucial role in the development of agriculture and the complex societies it supported is equally persuasive. -- Amir Alexander * Wall Street Journal * In this multi-disciplinary investigation, anthropologist Caleb Everett examines the seemingly limitless possibilities and innovations made possible by the evolution of number systems. -- Rachel E. Gross * Smithsonian * Caleb Everett provides a fascinating account of the development of human numeracy, from innate abilities to the complexities of agricultural and trading societies, all viewed against the general background of human cultural evolution. He successfully draws together insights from linguistics, cognitive psychology, anthropology, and archaeology in a way that is accessible to the general reader as well as to specialists. He does not avoid controversy, making this a key contribution to a developing debate. -- Bernard Comrie, University of California, Santa Barbara In his journey through the millennia of human evolution, from the forests of Amazonia to the deserts of Australia, ever in search of a better understanding of human diversity, Caleb Everett presents a breathtaking narrative of how the human species developed one of its most distinct cognitive and linguistic achievements: to count and to use concepts of quantity to expand and enrich a wide range of cultural activities. -- Bernd Heine, University of Cologne


Author Information

Caleb Everett, Professor of Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Miami, is the author of Numbers and the Making of Us and Linguistic Relativity: Evidence across Languages and Cognitive Domains.

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