The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics
A lively introduction to our mathematical heritage, October 20, 1999 Reviewer: A reader The book brings out a very important balance to the context of history of mathematics. Most of us have no idea that Mayan civilizations could have had developed mathematics. This book will change our view. Even in the context of Indian mathematics, the book draws attention to the context of Kerala mathemtics, to show the continuity of Indian mathematics in 13-14 th centurary. Best part I liked about 'quipu'. It is a mop which consists of a collection of knots, often dyed in one or more colours. He discusses how `quipu' of Inca tribes are actually mathematical records, a hard disk of their time. The book is written in a lively form. As an information, The title 'Crest of peacock' means mathematics as the head of all knowledge.
Good and informative, if needlessly polemical, February 4, 2007 By Andres Carlos Salama (Buenos Aires Argentina) - See all my reviews A very fine book about non western mathematics, concentrating in such civilizations as Ancient Egypt, Babylonia, China, India, the Arab world, and to a lesser extent, precolumbian civilizations. There is a lot of information here. Unfortunately, the book is unnecessarily polemical. To highlight the contributions of non western civilizations to mathematics, Gheverghese feels the need to belittle all the time the western contributions to mathematics, which any independent observer would say were crucial ones. A worthwhile book for those interested in the topic, nevertheless. Amazon.com
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