Science and an African Logic (Paperback, 2nd ed.)

Helen Verran

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Does 2 + 2 = 4? Ask almost anyone and the answer will be an unequivocal yes. A basic equation such as this seems the very definition of certainty, but how is this so?
In this captivating book, Helen Verran addresses precisely that question by looking at how science, mathematics, and logic come to life in Yoruba primary schools. Drawing on her experience as a teacher in Nigeria, Verran describes how she went from the radical conclusion that logic and math are culturally relative, to determining what Westerners find so disconcerting about Yoruba logic and to a new understanding of all generalizing logic. She reveals that in contrast to the one-to-many model found in Western number systems, Yoruba thinking operates by figuring things as wholes and their parts. Quantity is not absolute but always relational. Certainty derives not from abstract logic, but from cultural practice and association.
A powerful story of how one woman's investigation into an everyday African situation led to extraordinary conclusions about the nature of numbers, generalization, and certainty, this book will be a signal contribution to philosophy, anthropology of science, and education.

General

Imprint:	University of Chicago Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	December 2001
First published:	December 2001
Authors:	Helen Verran
Dimensions:	230 x 155 x 15mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	277
Edition:	2nd ed.
ISBN-13:	978-0-226-85391-8
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > General Books > Science & Mathematics > Mathematics > Philosophy of mathematics Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > Philosophy of science Promotions
LSN:	0-226-85391-8
Barcode:	9780226853918