Numerical Notation
A Comparative History

This book is a cross-cultural reference volume of all attested numerical notation systems, encompassing more than 100 such systems used over the past 5,500 years.

Stephen Chrisomalis (Author)

9780521878180, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 January 2010

496 pages, 33 b/w illus. 166 tables
23.6 x 16.1 x 3.5 cm, 0.79 kg

'Numerical Notation: A Comparative History is an important contribution to the study of the history and structure of numerical systems. It is well-written, well-edited, and packed with information. This book is an essential component of any college library and will be a well-thumbed reference for historians of mathematics.' James V. Rauff, Mathematics and Computer Education

This book is a cross-cultural reference volume of all attested numerical notation systems (graphic, non-phonetic systems for representing numbers), encompassing more than 100 such systems used over the past 5,500 years. Using a typology that defies progressive, unilinear evolutionary models of change, Stephen Chrisomalis identifies five basic types of numerical notation systems, using a cultural phylogenetic framework to show relationships between systems and to create a general theory of change in numerical systems. Numerical notation systems are primarily representational systems, not computational technologies. Cognitive factors that help explain how numerical systems change relate to general principles, such as conciseness or avoidance of ambiguity, which apply also to writing systems. The transformation and replacement of numerical notation systems relates to specific social, economic, and technological changes, such as the development of the printing press or the expansion of the global world-system.

1. Introduction
2. Hieroglyphic systems
3. Levantine systems
4. Italic systems
5. Alphabetic systems
6. South Asian systems
7. Mesopotamian systems
8. East Asian systems
9. Mesoamerican systems
10. Miscellaneous systems
11. Cognitive and structural analysis
12. Social and historical analysis
13. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Anthropology [JHM], Sociology & anthropology [JH]