String Figures as Mathematics?: An Anthropological Approach to String Figure-making in Oral Tradition Societies
- ISBN-10
- 331911994X
- ISBN-13
- 9783319119946
- Category
- Mathematics
- Pages
- 392
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2015-01-02
- Publisher
- Springer
- Author
- Eric Vandendriessche
Description
This book addresses the mathematical rationality contained in the making of string figures. It does so by using interdisciplinary methods borrowed from anthropology, mathematics, history and philosophy of mathematics. The practice of string figure-making has long been carried out in many societies, and particularly in those of oral tradition. It consists in applying a succession of operations to a string (knotted into a loop), mostly using the fingers and sometimes the feet, the wrists or the mouth. This succession of operations is intended to generate a final figure. The book explores different modes of conceptualization of the practice of string figure-making and analyses various source material through these conceptual tools: it looks at research by mathematicians, as well as ethnographical publications, and personal fieldwork findings in the Chaco, Paraguay, and in the Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea, which all give evidence of the rationality that underlies this activity. It concludes that the creation of string figures may be seen as the result of intellectual processes, involving the elaboration of algorithms, and concepts such as operation, sub-procedure, iteration, and transformation.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Murphy's String Figures: Teaching Math with String Figures
By James R. Murphya collection of articles first published in the international string figure association bulletin, printed here with the kind permission of the organization.
-
String Figures: And Other Monographs
By Walter William Rouse BallString Figures: And Other Monographs
-
String Figures (Classic Reprint)
By W. W. Rouse BallAbout the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work.
-
String Figures and how to Make Them: A Study of Cat's Cradle in Many Lands
By Caroline F. JayneDiagrams and text illustrate the steps involved in creating over one hundred string figures while providing information on their origin and cultural background
-
String Figures
By W W Rouse 1850-1925 BallThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
-
String Figures
By W W Rouse 1850-1925 BallThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.
-
Strings and Geometry: Proceedings of the Clay Mathematics Institute 2002 Summer School on Strings and Geometry, Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge,...
By Clay Mathematics Institute. Summer School, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical SciencesContains selection of expository and research article by lecturers at the school.
-
How to Spell the Fight
By Natascha Sadr HaghighianFollowing a thread, from string figures though algorithms.
-
String Theory in a Nutshell: Second Edition
By Elias KiritsisS. A. Hartnoll, A. Lucas, and S. Sachdev, “Holographic Quantum Matter,” arXiv:1612.07324 [hep-th]. A. Chamblin, R. Emparan, C. V. Johnson, and R. C. Myers, “Charged AdS Black Holes and Catastrophic Holography,” ...
-
Kwakiutl String Figures
By Julia P. AverkievaGrasp the hanging strings under the middle-ring-little fingers of the right hand, approximately twelve inches from the ... Lay the loop across the left hand so that one of the strings lies across the left wrist and the other string lies ...