The Craft of Indo-Arabic Numerals (Hardcover)
Language: English
Published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, 2026
- Hardcover
- New
Seller: CitiRetail, Stevenage, United KingdomCitiRetail
AbeBooks seller since June 29, 2022
Condition: New
£ 35.99
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Hardcover. In the thirteenth-century Mediterranean, commerce transformed as merchants shifted from Roman to Indo-Arabic numerals-an alternative that better facilitated complex calculations. It has long been known that this transition stemmed from Europe's increasing exchanges with India, Persia, and the Arabic world. Yet much remains to be understood about how Indo-Arabic numerals-and the practical arithmetic they enabled-actually spread across Europe. As Raffaele Danna shows, it was hundreds of ordinary merchants, schoolmasters, and artisans who nurtured these changes, thereby driving key advances in both commerce and mathematics. Drawing on an original catalogue of more than 1,200 practical arithmetic manuals, Danna charts the incremental spread of the new figures with unprecedented precision. While Italian merchants were the early adopters, it took nearly three centuries for Indo-Arabic numerals to become established in northern Europe. As Danna shows, adoption did not follow the routes of maritime trade. Rather, Indo-Arabic numerals moved gradually across the continent through inland networks of practitioners. Everywhere they went, the ten figures enhanced commercial practices and facilitated the emergence of a coherent language of mathematical craft. The growing social circulation of this knowledge, in turn, had a lasting impact on the economic trajectory of Western Europe. By the late sixteenth century, even academics were absorbing lessons from the vernacular tradition-a development that led to the first major breakthroughs in European mathematical theory since antiquity. Combining economic history with the social history of mathematics, Working Numbers illuminates the integral role of practical arithmetic in both intellectual and commercial transformations across Western Europe. In medieval and early modern Europe, the transition from Roman to Indo-Arabic numerals enabled their users to make key commercial and mathematical advances. Raffaele Danna shows how hundreds of ordinary merchants, schoolteachers, and artisans facilitated these developments, reconstructing the impact of practical mathematics across three centuries. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.…
Seller Inventory # 9780674279339
- Title
- The Craft of Indo-Arabic Numerals (Hardcover)
- Author
- Raffaele Danna
- Publisher
- Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- new
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0674279336
- ISBN 13
- 9780674279339
An illuminating, fine-grained account of how Indo-Arabic numerals facilitated the spread of practical knowledge in Western Europe—reshaping both commerce and mathematics in the process.
In the thirteenth-century Mediterranean, commerce transformed as merchants shifted from Roman to Indo-Arabic numerals—an alternative that better facilitated complex calculations. It has long been known that this transition stemmed from Europe’s increasing exchanges with India, Persia, and the Arabic world. Yet much remains to be understood about how Indo-Arabic numerals—and the practical arithmetic they enabled—actually spread across Europe. As Raffaele Danna shows, it was hundreds of ordinary merchants, schoolmasters, and artisans who nurtured these changes, thereby driving key advances in both commerce and mathematics.
Drawing on an original catalog of more than 1,200 practical arithmetic manuals, Danna charts the incremental spread of the new figures with unprecedented precision. While Italian merchants were the early adopters, it took nearly three centuries for Indo-Arabic numerals to become established in northern Europe. As Danna shows, adoption did not follow the routes of maritime trade. Rather, Indo-Arabic numerals moved gradually across the continent through inland networks of practitioners. Everywhere they went, the ten figures enhanced commercial practices and facilitated the emergence of a coherent language of mathematical craft. The growing social circulation of this knowledge, in turn, had a lasting impact on the economic trajectory of Western Europe. By the late sixteenth century, even academics were absorbing lessons from the vernacular tradition—a development that led to the first major breakthroughs in European mathematical theory since antiquity.
Combining economic history with the social history of mathematics, The Craft of Indo-Arabic Numerals illuminates the integral role of practical arithmetic in both intellectual and commercial transformations across Western Europe.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
CitiRetail
Stevenage, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since June 29, 2022
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 7 to 14 business days | 7 to 60 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 37.00 | £ 37.00 |
Payment methods
Store description
Online business
Seller's business information
ABC BOOKS LIMITED
10 John Street
London, United Kingdom WC1N 2EB
Terms of sale
Orders can be returned within 30 days of receipt.
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to CitiRetail, Stevenage, United Kingdom, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
Please note that titles are dispatched from our US, Canadian or Australian warehouses. Delivery times specified in shipping terms. Orders ship within 2 business days. Delivery to your door then takes 7-14 days.