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The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip
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The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip Paperback - 2001

by Keith Devlin

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Why is math so hard? And why are some people so good at it? Keith Devlin has answers to these questions, and shows how mathematical ability evolved, why it's a part of language ability, and how readers can make better use of this innate talent.

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From the publisher

Why is math so hard? And why, despite this difficulty, are some people so good at it? If there's some inborn capacity for mathematical thinking--which there must be, otherwise no one could do it --why can't we all do it well? Keith Devlin has answers to all these difficult questions, and in giving them shows us how mathematical ability evolved, why it's a part of language ability, and how we can make better use of this innate talent.He also offers a breathtakingly new theory of language development--that language evolved in two stages, and its main purpose was not communication--to show that the ability to think mathematically arose out of the same symbol-manipulating ability that was so crucial to the emergence of true language. Why, then, can't we do math as well as we can speak? The answer, says Devlin, is that we can and do--we just don't recognize when we're using mathematical reasoning.

First line

I HATED MATHEMATICS when I was in elementary school.

Details

  • Title The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip
  • Author Keith Devlin
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 352
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Basic Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Publication date 2001-05-01
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
  • ISBN 9780465016198 / 0465016197
  • Weight 0.83 lbs (0.38 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.02 x 5.32 x 0.9 in (20.37 x 13.51 x 2.29 cm)
  • Reading level 1230
  • Category Mathematics
  • Library of Congress subjects Mathematics - Philosophy, Mathematical ability
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 80050535
  • Dewey Decimal Code 510.1

About the author

Keith Devlin is a Senior Researcher and Executive Director at Stanford's Center for the Study of Language and Information, a Consulting Professor in the Department of Mathematics, and a co-founder of the Stanford Media X research network. National Public Radio's "Math Guy," he is the author of over twenty-five books. He lives in Stanford, California.
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The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved And Why Numbers Are Like Gossip

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The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved And Why Numbers Are Like Gossip

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The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved And Why Numbers Are Like Gossip

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The Math Gene : How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip

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The Math Gene : How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip

by Devlin, Keith

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780465016198 / 0465016197
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