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Discovery: Nature's Numbers

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11/01/2016 GMT

Nature's Numbers

BBC World Service - Discovery, Nature's NumbersSearch BBC

What can babies and an Amazonian tribe tell us about the origins of mathematics?

A South American culture with no words for numbers and a budding mathematician aged seven months.  Alex Bellos explores the roots of our numerical skills

Mathematics is one of the most extraordinary things humans can do with their brains but where do our numerical abilities come from?  Maths writer Alex Bellos looks for answers from a tribe in the Brazilian Amazon which has no words for numbers in its language.  He also meets a budding mathematician who is only seven months old.  

Image credit: Edward Gibson

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