Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Cultures
Author: Claudia Zaslavsky
Paperback: 368 pages
First Published: 1973
Publisher: Chicago Review Press; 3rd edition (April 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1556523505
ISBN-13: 978-1556523502
Details: This fascinating study of mathematical thinking among sub-Saharan African peoples covers counting in words and in gestures; measuring time, distance, weight, and other quantities; manipulating money and keeping accounts; number systems; patterns in music, poetry, art, and architecture; and number magic and taboos. African games such as mankala and elaborate versions of tic-tac-toe show how complex this thinking can be. An invaluable resource for students, teachers, and others interested in African cultures and multiculturalism, this third edition is updated with an introduction covering two decades of new research in the ethnomathematics of Africa.