The Anthropology of Numbers (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 70)

Why do the Nuer stipulate forty cattle in brideprice? Why is the number ten so important in North American mythology? What does the anthropologist Clifford Geertz really mean to say when he talks about the correspondence of Balinese time cycles? Numbers play some part, often quite central, in almost all known cultures, yet until now the subject has never been examined in detail from an anthropological perspective. This book is the first attempt to find out how people in a wide range of diverse cultures and in different historical contexts, use and understand numbers. The opening chapters provide the basis for looking at the way numbers operate in different contexts, by looking at the logical, psychological and linguistic implications. The following eight chapters deal with specific themes: ethnoscience, politics, measurement, time, money, music, games and architecture. The final chapter relates such operations to social, economic and cultural factors. Numbers are an important feature of almost all known cultures. In this detailed anthropological study, Thomas Crump examines how people from a wide range of diverse cultures, and from different historical backgrounds, use and understand numbers. By looking at the logical, psychological and linguistic implications, he analyses how numbers operate within different contexts. The author goes on to consider the relationship of numbers to specific themes, such as ethnoscience, politics, measurement, time, money, music, games and architecture. The Anthropology of Numbers is an original contribution to scholarship, written in a clear and accessible style. It will be of interest to anthropologists who study cognition, symbolism, primitive thought and classification, and to those in adjacent disciplines of psychology, cognitive science and mathematical social science. "Numbers are an important feature of almost all known cultures. In this detailed anthropological study, Thomas Crump examines how people from a wide range of diverse cultures, and from different historical backgrounds, use and understand numbers. By looking at the logical, psychological and linguistic implications, he analyses how numbers operate within different contexts. The author goes on to consider the relationship of numbers to specific themes, such as ethnoscience, politics, measurement, time, money, music, games and architecture. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET The Ontology Of Number -- The Cognitive Foundations Of Numeracy -- Number And Language -- Cosmology And Ethnoscience -- Economy, Society And Politics -- Measurement, Comparison And Equivalence -- Time -- Money -- Music, Poetry And Dance -- Games And Chance -- Art And Architecture -- The Ecology Of Number. Thomas Crump. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 180-189. Numbers are an important feature of almost all known cultures. This detailed anthropological study examines how people from a wide range of cultures and historical backgrounds use and understand numbers. By looking at the logical, linguistical and psychological implications, the author analyses how numbers operate within different contexts.