The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer

"Monumental [and] dazzling. A wonderful gift."--Kirkus Reviews"Georges Ifrah is the man, and this book, quite simply, rules...It is outstanding ...a mind--boggling and enriching experience."--Guardian (London)"Monumental ...a fascinating journey taking us through many different cultures."--The Times (London)"Ifrah's book amazes and fascinates by the scope of its scholarship. It is nothing less than the history of the human race told through figures."--International Herald TribuneA riveting history of numbers from the time of the cave dwellers to the twentieth century, this landmark international bestseller is the first complete, universal study of the invention and evolution of numbers the world over. Georges Ifrah brings numbers to thrilling life, explaining their development in human terms, the interesting situations that made them necessary, and the brilliant achievements in human thought that they made possible. The reader is taken through the numbers story from Europe to China, via ancient Greece and Rome, Mesopotamia, Latin America, India, and the Arabic countries. Exploring the many ways civilizations developed and changed their mathematical systems, Ifrah imparts a unique insight into the nature of human thought--and into how our understanding of numbers and the ways they shape our lives has changed over thousands of years. The engaging text is illustrated with over 150 figures.George Ifrah (France) is an independent scholar and former math teacher. He has been called the "Indiana Jones" of numbers.

Table of Contents:
Explaining the Origins: Ethnological and Psychological Approaches to the Sources of Numbers; Base Numbers and the Birth of Number - systems; The Earliest Calculating Machine - The Hand; How Cro - Magnon Man Counted; Tally Sticks: Accounting for Beginners; Numbers on Strings; Number, Value and Money; Numbers of Sumer; The Enigma of the Sexagesimal Base; The Development of Written Numerals in Elam and Mesopotamia; The Decipherment of a Five - Thousand - Year - Old System; How the Sumerians Did Their Sums; Mesopotamian Numbering after the Eclipse of Sumer; The Numbers of Ancient Egypt; Counting in the Times of the Cretan and Hittite Kings; Greek and Roman Numerals; Letters and Numbers; The Invention of Alphabetic Numerals; Other Alphabetic Number - systems; Magic, Mysticism, Divination, and Other Secrets; The Numbers of Chinese Civilisation; The Amazing Achievements of the Maya; The Final Stage of Numerical Notation; Part I: Indian Civilisation: The Cradle of Modern Numerals; Part II: Dictionary of the Numeral Symbols of Indian Civilisation; Indian Numerals and Calculation in the Islamic World; The Slow Progress of Indo - Arabic Numerals in Western Europe; Beyond Perfection; Bibliography; Index of Names and Subjects.