Ethnogeometry: Awakening of Geometrical Thought in Early Culture (eBook)

The book considers early geometrical thinking, both as embedded in various social activities surviving colonization in the life of the peoples of the “South,” and in early history. Chapter 1 discusses briefly some standard views of the origin of geometrical concepts. Chapter 2 analyzes alternative views of geometry. Chapter 3 analyzes the emergence of a series of early geometrical concepts and relationships in socially important activities. Questions such as these are considered: "Where could the concept of a right angle have come from? Where did the idea of a regular hexagon arise?" Chapter 4 presents a series of hypotheses on the possible role of social activity in the development of geometry in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. The last chapter offers some general ideas on the awakening of geometrical thought based on the analysis in this book. The book contains a foreword by the late Dirk Struik (1894-2000). (Second edition, 220 pp.).