Description
This exploration of how people came to appreciate numbers traces the ways in which early humans gradually evolved methods for recording numerical data and performing simple calculations. Its profiles of ancient systems of recording numbers include Egyptian, Maya and Aztec, Chinese, Greek, and the techniques of other cultures. 1974 edition.
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From describing the possible process by which number words came about to the invention of logarithms, mathematician Smeltzer presents a history of number symbols and the growing ability of humans to manipulate them. Along the way, he discusses the Sumerian and Babylonian counting systems, the counting board and the abacus, the Arabic origins of modern number symbols, the Hindu invention of the zero, and the invention of decimal fractions. This is a paperbound reprint of a work first published in 1958. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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