Identitásnyomok a számfogalom kialakulásában

Szalay István: Identitásnyomok a számfogalom kialakulásában.

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Abstract

Numbers, counting and computing interweave our everyday lives so much that we tend to forget that the existence of numbers is not natural, they are created by the human mind in the course of human activities. The origin of numbers goes back so far in history that, for instance, the numbers signed by the symbols 1, 2 and 3 are called natural numbers. We know, however, that they were not signed like that in ancient times, and they have had different names in different languages then and nowadays alike. From that we may conclude that numbers with identical content and different form were invented in different periods by different civilisations all over the world having no contact with each other. The identity of certain civilisations that has been retained by language is conserved in names but faded out as the form became globalised. Four thousand years ago the shape of Egyptian and Mesopotamian numbers mirrored the identity of the civilisations that created them. Globalisation may have started in the civilisations of Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and India (the latter with Chinese contacts) enriched by the influence of the Hellenistic world. The Roman Empire planted it over to the Europe of the Middle Ages, mediated by the Arabs. In this process the best qualities of the different and sophisticated number systems prevailed and merged. This means that in the present-day form that was gradually modified while the content also changed, almost invisible identity traces of connected civilisations can be detected. In the present paper some of these will be pinpointed. We will also touch upon the existence of numbers as actual infinity and the theory of exploded numbers.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
Other title: Traces of identity in the development of the notion "number"
Heading title: A mindennapi kultúra szerepe az identitás megőrzésében
Journal or Publication Title: Nemzetiségi - nemzeti - európai identitás
Date: 2009
ISBN: 978-963-482-962-1
Page Range: pp. 274-308
Event Title: Nemzetiségi - nemzeti - európai identitás (2008) (Szeged)
Related URLs: http://acta.bibl.u-szeged.hu/63265/
Uncontrolled Keywords: Számok, Identitás
Additional Information: Bibliogr. a lábjegyzetekben ; ill. ; összefoglalás angol nyelven
Date Deposited: 2020. Jan. 17. 11:29
Last Modified: 2022. Nov. 08. 11:52
URI: http://acta.bibl.u-szeged.hu/id/eprint/63360

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