
Science and an African Logic
Helen Verran(Author)
University of Chicago Press
Published on 15. December 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
285 pages
978-0-226-85391-8 (ISBN)
Description
Does two and two equal four? Ask almost anyone and they will unequivocally answer yes. A basic equation such as this seems the very definition of certainty, but is it? In this text, Helen Verran addresses precisely that question by looking at science, mathematics, and logic come to life in Yoruba primary school. Drawing on her experience as a teacher in Nigeria, Verran describes how she went from the radical conclusion that logic and maths are culturally relative, to determining what Westerners find so disconcerting about Yoruba logic, to a new understanding of all generalizing logic. She reveals that in contrast to the one-to-many model found in Western number systems, Yoruba thinking operates by figuring things as wholes and their parts. Certainty is derived not from abstract logic, but from cultural practices and associations. This is the story of how one woman's investigation in this everyday situation led to extraordinary conclusions about the nature of numbers, generalization, and certainty.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
398 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-85391-8 (9780226853918)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Helen Verran taught at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, between 1979 and 1986. She is currently a senior lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne.