Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures

308 Pages·2017·2.95 MB·English

by  Caleb Everett

NUMBERS AND THE MAKING OF US

NUMBERS

AND THE MAKING OF US
Counting and the Course of Human Cultures
CALEB EVERETT
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MAS SA CHU SETTS ■ LONDON, ENG LAND ■ 2017
Copyright © 2017 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
First printing
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Everett, Caleb, author.
Title: Numbers and the making of us : counting and the course
of human cultures / Caleb Everett.
Description: Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts : Harvard University Press,
2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016035929 | ISBN 9780674504431 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Numeration— Cross- cultural studies. |
Counting— Cross- cultural studies. | Number concept.
Classification: LCC QA141 .E94 2017 | DDC 513.2/11— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2016035929
For Jamie and Jude, who have enriched my life
in uncountable ways

CONTENTS
Prologue: On the Success of Our Species 1
part 1 Numbers Pervade the Human Experience 7
1. Numbers Woven into Our Pres ent 9
2. Numbers Carved into Our Past 29
3. A Numerical Journey around the
World Today 60
4. Beyond Number Words: Other Kinds
of Numeric Language 86
part 2 Worlds without Numbers 111
5. Anumeric People Today 113
6. Quantities in the Minds of Young Children 142
7. Quantities in the Minds of Animals 166
part 3 Numbers and the Shaping of Our Lives 189
8. Inventing Numbers and Arithmetic 191
9. N umbers and Culture:
Subsistence and Symbolism 213
10. Transformative Tools 240
Notes 261
Acknowl edgments 289
Index 291
viii CONTENTS
NUMBERS AND THE MAKING OF US