Description
Tavakoli, Javad; Lyle Mueller; Holly Fraser; Keith F. Taylor;. Connections: Math from an Aboriginal Perspective. Okanagan, British Columbia: University of British Columbia Press, N.D. [Circa 2012]. First printing. pp. 510. 4to. Illustrated colour card covers held with black plastic spiral binding. Many black and white drawings, figures, illustrations etc. Lightest rubbing to the covers, contents bright, clean and unmarked with tight, sound binding; near fine.
“The authors of this highly unique book aim to incorporate elements of Indigenous culture, spirituality into conveying complex mathematical concepts in Algebra, Real Number Systems, Basic Arithmetic Rules, Functions and Graphs, Quadratic Functions, Exponentials and Logarithms, and Geometry & Trigonometry. The text and contents forms the basis for the UBC Okanagan Course MATH 126: Basic Mathematics from an Aboriginal Perspective. “This text closely follows the concepts outlined in the book The Sacred Tree. Our experiences with this book have led to the understanding that we can look at mathematics from an Aboriginal perspective. This volume will be introduced by sharing four brief passages from The Sacred Tree: a) “Symbols express and represent meaning. Meaning helps provide purpose and understanding in the lives of human beings. Indeed to live without symbols is to experience existence far short of its full meaning. Ways of expressing and representing meaning include symbol systems of mathematics, spoken and written language and art.” b) The Medicine Wheel: This is an ancient symbol used by almost all Native people of North and South America. There are many different ways that this basic concept is expressed: the four grandfathers, the four winds, the four cardinal directions, and many other relationships that can be expressed in sets of four. Just like a mirror can be used to see things not normally visible (e.g. behind us or around a corner), the medicine wheel can be used to help us understand things we can’t quite see or understand because they are ideas and not physical objects. c) Wholeness. All things are interrelated. Everything in the universe is a part of the single whole. Everything is connected in some way to everything else. It is therefore possible to understand something only if we can understand how it is connected to everything else. d) The medicine wheel is an ancient and powerful symbol of the universe. It is a silent teacher of the realities of things. It shows the many different ways all things are interconnected. Beyond that, it shows one only things that are, but also things that could be.” Exceedingly scarce with no known copies of this title or the underlying material housed amongst any institutional holdings in Canada or elsewhere. Not in Peel, BAC/LAC.” Softcover. (#894) $175.00
