RECENT BOOKS ON AFRICAN MATHS

Drawings from Angola: Living Mathematics

For children from age 8 to 14. By Paulus Gerdes “Drawings from Angola” present an introduction to an African story telling tradition. The tales are illustrated with marvelous drawings made in the sand. The book conveys the stories of the stork and the leopard, the hunter and the dog, the rooster and the fox, and others. It explains how to execute the drawings. The reader is invited to draw tortoises, antelopes, lions, and other animals. The activities proposed throughout the book invite the reader to experiment and to explore the ‘rhythm’ and symmetry of the illustrations. Surprising results will be playfully obtained, such as in arithmetic, a way to calculate quickly the sum of a sequence of odd numbers. Children will live the beautiful mathematics of the Angolan sanddrawings. Answers to the activities are provided. The book can be used both in classrooms and at home.For youngsters from 15 years onwards, Paulus Gerdes wrote the book “Lusona: Geometrical Recreations of Africa” (L’Harmattan, Paris, 1997).Parents and teachers who like to know more about the Cokwe story telling and drawing tradition, may consult his book “Sona Geometry from Angola: Mathematics of an African Tradition” (Polimetrica, Monza, 2007).

(Read more about Sona here)

African Doctorates in Mathematics. A Catalogue

This volume presents a catalogue of over 2000 doctoral theses by Africans in all fields of mathematics, including applied mathematics, mathematics education and history of mathematics. The introduction contains information about distribution by country, institutions, period, and by gender, about mathematical density, and mobility of mathematicians. Several appendices are included (female doctorate holders, doctorates in mathematics education, doctorates awarded by African universities to non-Africans, doctoral theses by non-Africans about mathematics in Africa, activities of African mathematicians at the service of their communities). Paulus Gerdes compiled the information in his capacity of Chairman of the African Mathematical Union Commission for the History of Mathematics in Africa (AMUCHMA). The book contains a preface by Mohamed Hassan, President of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and Executive Director of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).

Mathematics in African History and Cultures: An Annotated Bibliography

This volume constitutes an updated version of the bibliography published in 2004 by the African Mathematical Union. The African Studies Association attributed the original edition a ‘special mention’ in the 2006 Conover-Porter Award competition. The book contains over 1600 bibliographic entries. The appendices contain additional bibliographic information on (1) mathematicians of the Diaspora, (2) publications by Africans on the history of mathematics outside Africa, (3) time-reckoning and astronomy in African history and cultures, (4) string figures in Africa, (5) examples of books published by African mathematicians, (6) board games in Africa, (7) research inspired by geometric aspects of the ‘sona’ tradition. The book concludes with several indices (subject, country, region, author, ethnographic and linguistic, journal, mathematicians). Professor Jan Persens of the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) and president of the African Mathematical Union (2000-2004) wrote the preface.

(More details on these books here)

Drawings from Angola: Living Mathematics

For children from age 8 to 14. By Paulus Gerdes “Drawings from Angola” present an introduction to an African story telling tradition. The tales are illustrated with marvelous drawings made in the sand. The book conveys the stories of the stork and the leopard, the hunter and the dog, the rooster and the fox, and others. It explains how to execute the drawings. The reader is invited to draw tortoises, antelopes, lions, and other animals. The activities proposed throughout the book invite the reader to experiment and to explore the ‘rhythm’ and symmetry of the illustrations. Surprising results will be playfully obtained, such as in arithmetic, a way to calculate quickly the sum of a sequence of odd numbers. Children will live the beautiful mathematics of the Angolan sanddrawings. Answers to the activities are provided. The book can be used both in classrooms and at home.For youngsters from 15 years onwards, Paulus Gerdes wrote the book “Lusona: Geometrical Recreations of Africa” (L’Harmattan, Paris, 1997).Parents and teachers who like to know more about the Cokwe story telling and drawing tradition, may consult his book “Sona Geometry from Angola: Mathematics of an African Tradition” (Polimetrica, Monza, 2007).

(Read more about Sona here)

African Doctorates in Mathematics. A Catalogue

This volume presents a catalogue of over 2000 doctoral theses by Africans in all fields of mathematics, including applied mathematics, mathematics education and history of mathematics. The introduction contains information about distribution by country, institutions, period, and by gender, about mathematical density, and mobility of mathematicians. Several appendices are included (female doctorate holders, doctorates in mathematics education, doctorates awarded by African universities to non-Africans, doctoral theses by non-Africans about mathematics in Africa, activities of African mathematicians at the service of their communities). Paulus Gerdes compiled the information in his capacity of Chairman of the African Mathematical Union Commission for the History of Mathematics in Africa (AMUCHMA). The book contains a preface by Mohamed Hassan, President of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and Executive Director of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).

Mathematics in African History and Cultures: An Annotated Bibliography

This volume constitutes an updated version of the bibliography published in 2004 by the African Mathematical Union. The African Studies Association attributed the original edition a ‘special mention’ in the 2006 Conover-Porter Award competition. The book contains over 1600 bibliographic entries. The appendices contain additional bibliographic information on (1) mathematicians of the Diaspora, (2) publications by Africans on the history of mathematics outside Africa, (3) time-reckoning and astronomy in African history and cultures, (4) string figures in Africa, (5) examples of books published by African mathematicians, (6) board games in Africa, (7) research inspired by geometric aspects of the ‘sona’ tradition. The book concludes with several indices (subject, country, region, author, ethnographic and linguistic, journal, mathematicians). Professor Jan Persens of the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) and president of the African Mathematical Union (2000-2004) wrote the preface.

(More details on these books here)