The Universal History of Numbers: from Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer

Georges Ifrah is an independent scholar and former math teacher. David Bellos, the primary translator, is Professor of French at Princeton University. Sophie Wood, cotranslator, is a specialist in technical translation from French. Ian Monk, cotranslator, has translated the works of Georges Perec and Daniel Pennac.

Explaining the Origins: Ethnological and Psychological Approaches to the Sources of Numbers. Base Numbers and the Birth of Number--systems. The Earliest Calculating Machine -- The Hand. How Cro--Magnon Man Counted. Tally Sticks: Accounting for Beginners. Numbers on Strings. Number, Value and Money. Numbers of Sumer. The Enigma of the Sexagesimal Base. The Development of Written Numerals in Elam and Mesopotamia. The Decipherment of a Five--Thousand--Year--Old System. How the Sumerians Did Their Sums. Mesopotamian Numbering after the Eclipse of Sumer. The Numbers of Ancient Egypt. Counting in the Times of the Cretan and Hittite Kings. Greek and Roman Numerals. Letters and Numbers. The Invention of Alphabetic Numerals. Other Alphabetic Number--systems. Magic, Mysticism, Divination, and Other Secrets. The Numbers of Chinese Civilisation. The Amazing Achievements of the Maya. The Final Stage of Numerical Notation. Part I: Indian Civilisation: The Cradle of Modern Numerals. Part II: Dictionary of the Numeral Symbols of Indian Civilisation. Indian Numerals and Calculation in the Islamic World. The Slow Progress of Indo--Arabic Numerals in Western Europe. Beyond Perfection. Bibliography. Index of Names and Subjects.