Originally published: 1st American ed. New York : Schocken Books, 1983. Includes bibliographical references (p. 291-292) and index.
Contents:
1. Encountering numbers -- 2. Counting with numbers -- Rudimentary beginnings -- One-to-one correspondence and order -- The beginning of numbers -- Patterns and groups -- Finger-counting -- Counting by twos -- Counting by fives -- Counting by twenties -- The history of counting -- The age of our decimal counting -- Counting with knots -- 3. Writing down numbers -- Tallies -- The dawn of numerals -- The development of numeral systems -- The evolution of place-value -- Alphabetical numerals -- The Hindu-Arabic numerals -- Fractions -- The derivation of number-symbols -- 4. Calculating with numbers -- Addition -- Subtraction -- Multiplication -- Division -- Checks on calculation -- Ratio and proportion -- Prime numbers and factors -- The calculation of roots -- Logarithms -- Arithmetic symbols -- 5. Computing with numbers -- Early counting boards -- Counting boards in the Middle Ages -- Reckoning on the lines -- The modern abacus -- The slide rule -- Calculating machines -- Binary arithmetic -- Computers -- 6. Unknown numbers -- The linear unknown -- The square of the unknown -- Higher powers of the unknown -- More than one unknown -- Indeterminate unknowns -- Symbols for the unknown -- 7. Recreational numbers -- Think of a number -- Magic squares -- Number shapes -- Numbers with special properties -- 8. Thinking about numbers -- Rational and irrational numbers -- The real numbers -- The status of zero -- Complex numbers -- Defining the natural numbers -- Numbers and religious belief -- 9. Teaching and learning numbers -- Words and symbols -- Elementary calculation -- Algebra -- Numbers and life.
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