"Traces the development of numerical systems in Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, Babylonian, and Mayan cultures, and examines the origins of the Hindu-Arabic numerals we use today"--Back cover.

"Georges Ifrah is the man. This book, quite simply, rules. . . . It is outstanding . . . a mind-boggling and enriching experience." –The Guardian (London) "Monumental. . . . a fascinating journey taking us through many different cultures."–The Times (London)"Ifrah’s book amazes and fascinates by the scope of its scholarship. It is nothing less than the history of the human race told through figures." –International Herald Tribune Now in paperback, here is Georges Ifrah’s landmark international bestseller–the first complete, universal study of the invention and evolution of numbers the world over. A riveting history of counting and calculating, from the time of the cave dwellers to the twentieth century, this fascinating volume brings numbers to thrilling life, explaining their development in human terms, the intriguing situations that made them necessary, and the brilliant achievements in human thought that they made possible. It takes us through the numbers story from Europe to China, via ancient Greece and Rome, Mesopotamia, Latin America, India, and the Arabic countries. Exploring the many ways civilizations developed and changed their mathematical systems, Ifrah imparts a unique insight into the nature of human thought–and into how our understanding of numbers and the ways they shape our lives have changed and grown over thousands of years. "Dazzling."–Kirkus Reviews "Sure to transfix readers."–PublishersWeekly

Numbers Are One Of Two Creations (The Other Being The Alphabet) Of The Human Spirit Which Have Given Us Today S World. The Three Volumes Of The Universal History Of Numbers Are Probably The First Comprehensive History Of Numbers And Of Counting From Prehistory To The Modern Age. They Are Also The Story Of How The Human Race Has Learnt To Think Logically. In Volume 2, Georges Ifrah Continues The Story Of The Invention Of The Modern Number-System By Telling Us How Indian Civilization Became The Cradle Of Modern Numerals With The Invention Of The Place Value System And Of Zero. Twenty-One Geographically Different Indian Numerical Notations Of The Nine Numerals And The Zero Are Explained Individually With Illustrations. A Detailed Dictionary Of Indian Numerical Symbols, Recorded Alphabetically, Gives The Reader A Better Idea Of The Subtle And Complicated World Of Numbers Which Derived From The Genius Of Indian Mathematicians Working In The Late Middle Ages. It Was Arab Scholars Who Brought The System To The West. If Western Mathematical Progress Today Looks Dazzling, It Is Because It Stands On A Solid Non-Western Foundation. Amazing, Captivating And Enriching, The Universal History Of Numbers Is A Must Read Not Only For Specialists And Academics, But Also For The Average Reader Who Is Interested In The Development Of Civilization.

Classic study discusses number sequence and number language, then explores written numerals and computations in a wide range of cultures. 282 illustrations. "Superior narrative ability." — Library Journal.

Examines the many reasons and motivations for the destruction of books throughout history, citing specific acts from the smashing of ancient Sumerian tablets to the looting of libraries in post-war Iraq.

"From the time of Pythagoras, we have been tempted to treat numbers as the ultimate or only truth. This book tells the history of that habit of thought. But more, it argues that the logic of counting sacrifices much of what makes us human, and that we have a responsibility to match the objects of our attention to the forms of knowledge that do them justice. Humans have extended the insights and methods of number and mathematics to more and more aspects of the world, even to their gods and their religions.Today those powers are greater than ever, as computation is applied to virtually every aspect of human activity.But the rules of mathematics do not strictly apply to many things-from elementary particles to people-in the world.By subjecting such things to the laws of logic and mathematics, we gain some kinds of knowledge, but we also lose others. How do our choices about what parts of the world to subject to the logics of mathematics affect how we live and how we die?This question is rarely asked, but it is urgent, because the sciences built upon those laws now govern so much of our knowledge, from physics to psychology.Number and Knowledge sets out to ask it. In chapters proceeding chronologically from Ancient Greek philosophy and the rise of monotheistic religions to the emergence of modern physics and economics, the book traces how ideals, practices, and habits of thought formed over millennia have turned number into the foundation-stone of human claims to knowledge and certainty.But the book is also a philosophical and poetic exhortation to take responsibility for that history, for the knowledge it has produced, and for the many aspects of the world and of humanity that it ignores or endangers.To understand what can be counted and what can't is to embrace the ethics of purposeful knowing"--