The Number Concept: Its Origin and Development

"The Number Concept: Its Origin and Development" by Levi L. Conant is a scholarly exploration of how humans developed math skills and numerical language. The book examines the history of number systems across different cultures, looking at the meaning of numbers and how they helped people communicate. It starts with the basic ways of counting and the challenges found in older languages, where the ability to count high numbers was often limited. The book uncovers how different cultures used unique systems for numbers, showing that counting is a basic human skill; it follows the path of math ideas as they grew through language and daily use.