Numbers and the Making of Us

Numbers and the Making of Us PDF Author: Caleb Everett
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674504437
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
“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

Numbers and the Making of Us PDF Author: Caleb Everett
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674504437
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book Here

Book Description
“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

America by the Numbers

America by the Numbers PDF Author: Emmanuel Didier
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262357410
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
How new techniques of quantification shaped the New Deal and American democracy. When the Great Depression struck, the US government lacked tools to assess the situation; there was no reliable way to gauge the unemployment rate, the number of unemployed, or how many families had abandoned their farms to become migrants. In America by the Numbers, Emmanuel Didier examines the development in the 1930s of one such tool: representative sampling. Didier describes and analyzes the work of New Deal agricultural economists and statisticians who traveled from farm to farm, in search of information that would be useful for planning by farmers and government agencies. Didier shows that their methods were not just simple enumeration; these new techniques of quantification shaped the New Deal and American democracy even as the New Deal shaped the evolution of statistical surveys. Didier explains how statisticians had to become detectives and anthropologists, searching for elements that would help them portray America as a whole. Representative surveys were one of the most effective instruments for their task. He examines pre-Depression survey techniques; the invention of the random sampling method and the development of the Master Sample; and the application of random sampling by employment experts to develop the “Trial Census of Unemployment.”

America by the Numbers

America by the Numbers PDF Author: William H. Frey
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781565846418
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Discusses the makeup of the U.S. population covering such issues as race, immigration, language, wealth, and sexuality.

Count on Us

Count on Us PDF Author: Michael Shoulders
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781585361311
Category : Counting
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This fun colorful, and superbly informative book teaches children about numbers using recognizable places, events, and facts from the state of Tennessee.

Datapedia of the United States

Datapedia of the United States PDF Author: George Thomas Kurian
Publisher: Bernan Press
ISBN: 1598882589
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 761

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Book Description
Presents available data and statistics on social, economic, political, and cultural developments in such areas as energy, housing, and health care.

U.S. Army by the Numbers

U.S. Army by the Numbers PDF Author: Lisa M. Bolt Simons
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1476539170
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
"Describes aspects of the U.S. Army using numbers, stats, and info graphics"--

Numbers Are Us

Numbers Are Us PDF Author:
Publisher: Keeok Park
ISBN: 0984344632
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description


Desert Digits

Desert Digits PDF Author: Barbara Gowan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781585361625
Category : Arizona
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
An introduction, through numbers, to some of Arizona's animals, geography, history, and more.

U.S. farm numbers, sizes, and related structural dimensions

U.S. farm numbers, sizes, and related structural dimensions PDF Author: William Lin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Farms
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description


U.S. Navy by the Numbers

U.S. Navy by the Numbers PDF Author: Amie Jane Leavitt
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1476539189
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
Did you know that an aircraft carrier is as long as a 75 story building is tall? That a Navy Seal can swim 500 yards in 8 minutes? Or that a submarine offers only 15 square feet of living space for each member of its crew? Discover these and more amazing high impact stats and numbers that define the U.S. Navy.