Numbers

by Joseph Midthun, Samuel Hiti (Illustrator)

"A graphic nonfiction volume that introduces the history of numbers and number systems"--

Genres: Mathematics

32 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2012

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't think there was much to know about numbers, but alas, there is so much to know including the different civilizations that created their own systems, how they're organized and stacked, and how we got to move from having numbers to counting and grouping that helped with trading and bartering.

Here's a factoid: the Old English word endleofan means "one left over after ten" and is how we get the word eleven.

Another factoid: the Maya of Central America counted in groups of 20 and the Babylonians of early Mesopotamia counted by 60 which is different than Egyptians, Greek, or Chinese who counted in groups of 10.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nonfiction book with number characters to help teach young children about math and where it originated. It goes through the different ways we have come to know numbers and express amounts. From cave men, to the Romans, to the Arabic way, children can learn all about the history of math and the many different ways numbers are expressed.

[Ashley Sultemeier]

LOVE this book! Easy to follow along and enjoyable to read. Covers the creation of the number system, place value, and early ancient formation of the number system from Roman numerals to Hindu-Arabic numerals. The glossary contains more books to read to further learning of numbers and mathematics, and websites to put the learning into practice! Love books like this one!

[Zoe Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband commented that the book was a little dry and perhaps too advanced for my 1st grader; however, said 1st grader said she LOVED it and asked me to pick up some more books from the series.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to numbers in a fun, inviting way!

[Jie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nice book that talked about history of numbers, numerals, place values, roman numbers, Arabic numbers, abacus, binary number, etc. MT wanted to give the book a rating of 101 stars, in binary!