Numbers And The Making Of Us
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Numbers and the Making of Us
Author: Caleb Everett
language: en
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Release Date: 2017-03-13
“A fascinating book.” —James Ryerson, New York Times Book Review A Smithsonian Best Science Book of the Year Winner of the PROSE Award for Best Book in Language & Linguistics Carved into our past and woven into our present, numbers shape our perceptions of the world far more than we think. In this sweeping account of how the invention of numbers sparked a revolution in human thought and culture, Caleb Everett draws on new discoveries in psychology, anthropology, and linguistics to reveal the many things made possible by numbers, from the concept of time to writing, agriculture, and commerce. Numbers are a tool, like the wheel, developed and refined over millennia. They allow us to grasp quantities precisely, but recent research confirms that they are not innate—and without numbers, we could not fully grasp quantities greater than three. Everett considers the number systems that have developed in different societies as he shares insights from his fascinating work with indigenous Amazonians. “This is bold, heady stuff... The breadth of research Everett covers is impressive, and allows him to develop a narrative that is both global and compelling... Numbers is eye-opening, even eye-popping.” —New Scientist “A powerful and convincing case for Everett’s main thesis: that numbers are neither natural nor innate to humans.” —Wall Street Journal
Numbers and the Making of Us
Author: Caleb Everett
language: en
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Release Date: 2017-03-13
Number concepts are a human invention developed and refined over millennia. They allow us to grasp quantities precisely: recent research shows that most specific quantities are not perceived in the absence of a number system. Numbers are not innate or universal; yet without them, the world as we know it would not exist.
The Nixon Administration and the Making of U.S. Nuclear Strategy
Author: Terry Terriff
language: en
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Release Date: 2018-05-31
In 1974 Richard Nixon's defense secretary, James Schlesinger, announced that the United States would change its nuclear targeting policy from "assured destruction" to "limited nuclear options." In this account of the Schlesinger Doctrine based on newly declassified documents and extensive interviews with key actors, Terry Terriff challenges the Nixon administration's official explanation of why and how this policy innovation occurred.