Caleb Everett, Professor of Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Miami, is the author of Numbers and the Making of Us and Linguistic Relativity: Evidence across Languages and Cognitive Domains.
A fascinating book.
*New York Times Book Review*
Fascinating…This is bold, heady stuff…The breadth of research
Everett covers is impressive, and allows him to develop a narrative
that is both global and compelling. He is as much at home
describing the niceties of experimental work in cognitive science
as he is discussing arcane tribal rituals and the technical details
of grammar…It is often poignant, and makes a virtue of the author’s
experiences with some of the indigenous peoples he describes, based
on a childhood following his missionary parents—in particular his
famous father, Daniel Everett—into the Amazon jungle…Numbers is
eye-opening, even eye-popping. And it makes a powerful case for
language, as a cultural invention, being central to the making of
us.
*New Scientist*
Everett buttresses his argument with an impressive array of studies
from different fields…It all adds up to a powerful and convincing
case for Everett’s main thesis: that numbers are neither natural
nor innate to humans but ‘a creation of the human mind, a cognitive
invention that has altered forever how we see and distinguish
quantities.’ His argument that numbers played a crucial role in the
development of agriculture and the complex societies it supported
is equally persuasive.
*Wall Street Journal*
In this multi-disciplinary investigation, anthropologist Caleb
Everett examines the seemingly limitless possibilities and
innovations made possible by the evolution of number systems.
*Smithsonian*
Caleb Everett provides a fascinating account of the development of
human numeracy, from innate abilities to the complexities of
agricultural and trading societies, all viewed against the general
background of human cultural evolution. He successfully draws
together insights from linguistics, cognitive psychology,
anthropology, and archaeology in a way that is accessible to the
general reader as well as to specialists. He does not avoid
controversy, making this a key contribution to a developing
debate.
*Bernard Comrie, University of California, Santa Barbara*
In his journey through the millennia of human evolution, from the
forests of Amazonia to the deserts of Australia, ever in search of
a better understanding of human diversity, Caleb Everett presents a
breathtaking narrative of how the human species developed one of
its most distinct cognitive and linguistic achievements: to count
and to use concepts of quantity to expand and enrich a wide range
of cultural activities.
*Bernd Heine, University of Cologne*
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