The History of Numerals Through Civilisations - Histoire des chiffres à travers les civilisations: Edition bilingue français-anglais - Softcover

Oussama, Sayadi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0955267005 ISBN 13: 9780955267000

Publisher: Acto Print Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

The history of numerals through civilisations

Histoire des chiffres à travers les civilisations

Bilingual : French - English

Welcome to the marvellous and magic world of numerals, this book leads to the history of numerals through the civilisations of the Ancient worlds: Babylonian, Egyptian, Maya, Chinese, Roman, Indian and Arab. The author talks about the extraordinary adventure of the zero and its origins, without forgetting the number pi « π » and its development, from Mesopotamia (2000 BC) until now.
Humankind through the human history has developed several numeration systems:
- Sexagesimal system base 60 by Sumerians;
- Vigesimal system base 20 by Maya;
- Decimal system base 10 by Chinese and Indians.
Transmitted to Western Europe by the Arabs, the Indian decimal system became the dominated one, because of its ability to specify any number using only ten numerals including the zero.
Bienvenue dans le monde merveilleux et magique des chiffres Ce livre nous amène dans le monde des chiffres à travers les civilisations anciennes : Babylonienne, Egyptienne, Maya, Chinoise, Romaine, Indienne et Arabe. L auteur nous parle de l extraordinaire aventure du zéro et de ses origines, sans oublier le nombre pi « π » et son évolution, de la Mésopotamie (2000 av. JC) à nos jours, suivi d une chronologie des grands mathématiciens et des civilisations anciennes. Le livre est enrichi de données complémentaires sous forme d annexe, afin d aller plus loin et apprendre davantage sur les civilisations citées tout au long de cet ouvrage.
Une version anglaise légèrement différente suit la version française. Elle servira aux lecteurs élèves et enseignants des classes anglophones (collège et lycée de section européenne) de support linguistique pour l enseignement des Mathématiques et de l Histoire .

About this title

From the Author:

The idea of this book occurred to me in 2004 when I published my first book about the history of algebra and geometry in the 9th and 10th century AD (in French). People always ask the same questions: Who discovered the "zero"? Why? How did ancient civilisations use to count? Which numeral systems did they use? In this book, I have tried to keep it simple without ever simplifying the subject.
Unfortunately, most books dealing with mathematical history are not easily understood by non specialists. Since the readers of this book may be non specialists with varied backgrounds and various expectations, I have tried to strike a happy medium when giving mathematical explanations. Some words and notions are relatively difficult to translate. We thank our readers in advance for their understanding.

About the Author:

Oussama Sayadi, Physics and Chemistry teacher at the Private Industrial and Commercial High School and tutor at ICAM engineering institute in France. He is the author of "Algebra and Geometry in the IXth – Xth century" in French.
Oussama Sayadi est physicien et professeur de sciences physiques au Lycée Industriel et Commercial Privé de Tourcoing. Il est l’auteur de l’Algèbre et Géométrie au IXème – Xème siècle.

About this edition

• Publisher: Acto Print Ltd
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0955267005
• ISBN 13: 9780955267000
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Number of pages: 260