Cultural Development of Mathematical Ideas

By: Geoffrey B. Saxe and Indigo Esmonde

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Drawing upon field studies conducted in 1978, 1980, and 2001 with the Oksapmin, a remote Papua New Guinea group, Geoffrey B. Saxe traces the emergence of new forms of numerical representations and ideas in the social history of the community. In traditional life, the Oksapmin used a counting system that makes use of twenty-seven parts of the body; there is no evidence that the group used arithmetic in prehistory. As practices of economic exchange and schooling have shifted, children and adults unwittingly reproduced and altered the system in order to solve new kinds of numerical and arithmetical problems, a process that has led to new forms of collective representations in the community. While Dr. Saxe's focus is on the Oksapmin, the insights and general framework he provides are useful for understanding shifting representational forms and emerging cognitive functions in any human community.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9780521761666
Publisher:: Cambridge University Press
Date of Addition:: 09/13/12
Copyrighted By:: Geoffrey B. Saxe, Indigo Esmonde
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Psychology, Education, Mathematics and Statistics, Sociology
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.