Books like The Number Sense by Stanislas Dehaene

In The Number Sense, cognitive neuropsychologist Stanislas Dehaene examines evidence that simple numerical abilities are shared by animals such as rats, pigeons, and chimpanzees, and are evident in human infants. He shows how these early skills persist into adulthood, influencing complex arithmetic and shaping mathematical learning. Dehaene connects the development of symbolic number systems—writing and speech—to advances in higher mathematics, and traces the cultural history of numbers while highlighting how brain architecture constrains learning and memory. The book also investigates extraordinary numerical talents, including idiot savants and geniuses, and reviews lesion studies and neuroimaging data that localize brain circuits underlying arithmetic. Covering topics from sex differences and calculator use to the brain-computer metaphor and spatial–numerical interactions, the work offers provocative insights for anyone interested in mathematics and cognition.

First publish date: 1997