Research Catalog

Title

Pacific ethnomathematics : a bibliographic study / Nicholas J. Goetzfridt.

Author

Goetzfridt, Nicholas J.

Publication

Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, c2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xvii, 319 p. : 1 map; 24 cm.

Summary

• "This bibliography by distinguished Pacific researcher Nicholas Goetzfridt examines mathematical concepts and practices in Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. It covers number systems, counting, measuring, classifying, spatial relationships, symmetry, geometry, and other aspects of ethnomathematics in relation to a wide range of activities such as trade, education, navigation, construction, rituals and festivals, divination, weaving, tattooing, and music. In compiling nearly five hundred citations, Goetzfridt makes use of the vast resources of writing about the Pacific from the 1700s to the present.
• In addition to discussing Pacific knowledge systems in general, his introductory chapter includes a helpful overview of the relatively new field of ethnomathematics and important theoretical reflections on the discipline as a research program."
• "Extensive subject and geographic indexes provide numerous ways to experience the rich heritage and history of Pacific ethnomathematics concepts covered in this book, including: the 256 possible knotted fates enables by the Carolinian sky god Supwunumen, etak segmentation concepts in stellar based voyaging, the highly diverse counting systems of Papua New Guinea, the alignment of stone structures with stars to mark the appearance on the equinox and solstice, and contemporary educational issues in the standardized teaching of Western mathematics."
• "Pacific Ethnomathematics is a reference work that will be welcomed by Pacific scholars engaged in a wide range of disciplines, among them history, anthropology, education, geography, astronomy, archaeology, ethnic studies, and art."--Jacket.

Subject

• Ethnomathematics > Melanesia > Bibliography
• Ethnomathematics > Micronesia > Bibliography
• Ethnomathematics > Polynesia > Bibliography
• Ethnoscience > Melanesia > Bibliography
• Ethnoscience > Micronesia > Bibliography
• Ethnoscience > Polynesia > Bibliography
• Time > Bibliography

Genre/Form

Bibliographies

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Polynesia -- Melanesia -- Micronesia -- Geographic Index -- Subject Index

ISBN

• 9780824831707 (hardcover : alk. paper)
• 0824831705 (hardcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2007024291

OCLC

• 153597688
• SCSB-10273785

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library