Africa and Mathematics From Colonial Findings Back to the Ishango Rods /

• Main Author: Huylebrouck, Dirk (Author, http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2019.
• Edition: 1st ed. 2019.
• Series: Mathematics, Culture, and the Arts,
• Subjects: Mathematics.; History.; Social sciences.; Africa, Sub-Saharan-History.; History of Mathematical Sciences.; Mathematics in the Humanities and Social Sciences.; History of Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Physical Description: XV, 229 p. 217 illus., 110 illus. in color. online resource.
• ISBN: 9783030040376
• ISSN: 2520-8578
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-04037-6

This volume on ethnomathematics in Central Africa fills a gap in the current literature, focusing on a region rarely explored by other publications. It highlights the discovery of the Ishango rod, which was found to be the oldest mathematical tool in humanity's history, thereby shifting the origin of mathematics to the heart of Africa, and explores the different scientific hypotheses that emerged as a result. While it contains some high-level mathematics, the non-mathematical reader can easily skip these portions and enjoy the book's survey of African history, culture, and art.