Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

Discovery

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

Discovery: Nature's Numbers

Magazines & Reviews

Nature's Numbers

04/01/2016 GMT

BBC World Service - Discovery, Nature's NumbersSearch BBC

What can animals tell us about the origins of our numerical abilities?

Counting parrots and lemurs, Alex Bellos seeks clues to how our species evolved and acquired its mathematical abilities.

Lemurs and parrots accompany maths writer Alex Bellos as he explores the foundations of our ability to understand numbers. What are the fundamental numerical skills we share with other animals? What accounts for our species’ unique abilities to do calculations which other creatures cannot? Alex meets Teres the lemur as the Madagascan primate undergoes a maths test. He also tells the amazing story of Alex, the African grey parrot, and meets professor Irene Pepperberg who guided her feathered pupil to extraordinary mathematical achievements.

(Photo: Lemurs. Credit: Andrew Luck-Baker)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Discovery

Nature's Numbers

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service