Denise Schmandt-Besserat

In this book, it gives r adders the history of counting and insight on how many different people count differently around the world. For example the Veddas of Sri Lanka could using only their body parts. Certain part s of the body corresponds to a certain number, the left eye is number thirteen. The highest number they can go up to is twenty-seven. I enjoyed reading this book because it gave me a new perspective on how people use math everyday.

Retelling: Author and anthropologist, Schmandt-Besserat describes how systems for counting evolved out of necessity in different civilizations and how each system had different strengths and weaknesses. Learn about cultures that use systems other than the hindu-arabic system today: the Veddas, the Paiela, and the Gilyaks. Then learn about ancient developments in the middle east: the Sumerians and the Phoenicians. Then the Greek and Roman system and how and why they adopted our modern system show more instead.

Thoughts and Feelings: It's very exciting to me to learn that the true origin of the hindu-arabic system of numbers is unknown but the first example was written in sanscrit in India. I like unknowns. They mean there is more puzzle pieces to be discovered and/or connected.

I particularly enjoyed how this author emphasized that innovations in numbers were born out of need. I often feel that, because our abstract numbers are so versatile, we can teach them without recognizing or enforcing their practicality in our culture and civilization. show less

This book was wonderful! I learned so many things about the origins of numbers that I never knew. I guess I never really thought about where our concept of counting came from. I loved the way this book is organized and the illustrations explaining historical concepts that would otherwise be difficult to imagine. This book is going into my top children's books. I honestly couldn't recommend this book more both in a classroom setting and home setting. The fact that interested me the most was show more the body counting used by the Paiela in Papua New Guinea. Their highest number is twenty- eight and each part of the body represents a number. show less

Thrift store find. ?áSurprisingly wonderful. ?áReads as smoothly as a picture-book stories, with art that fills the page and adds depth and clarity to each concept. ?áGoes beyond the basics we adults think we know. ?á

Do you know about body counting? ?áFor the Paiela of Papua New Guinea, the left pinkie represents '1,' left ring finger = '2,' left ear = 12, all the way to right pinkie which is 27. ?áSo, I'll trade you left wrist fish for left pinkie shoes....

Did you know the show more Arabs called 'Arabic numerals' 'Hindu numerals?' ?áThe earliest number system documented, that includes zero and looks like our number system, is Sanskrit and is 1500 years old. ?áDid you know it took centuries for Europeans to accept this new numbering system, and it wasn't fully accepted until about 1650? ?áI guess that means that the cargo manifest of the Mayflower could just as likely have been written in Roman numerals? ?á(Though apparently merchants etc. caught on the Arabic numerals more quickly, as the document is in modern notation:?áhttps://archive.org/stream/themayflowerandh04105gut/mf05v10.txt.)" show less