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"Counting on Brains": Review of The Mathematical Brain, by Brian Butterworth. Reviewed by Stanislas Dehaene. Nature, 9 September 1999, page 114.
This book, aimed at a general audience, discusses how the brain deals with numbers. The author's central thesis is that the ability to count is inherent in the human brain. According to the review, the book's discussion of evidence from prehistory, including cave paintings and bone carvings, "is particularly original and commendable." The book also contains an intriguing description of what seems to be a case of dyscalculia caused by defective genes. The book "is a skillful overview of the area for non-specialists, with remarkable depth and breadth in many cases, but with occasional oversights that may frustrate the expert," the reviewer writes.
--- Allyn Jackson
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