Patricia Cline Cohen is Professor of History at the University of California at Santa Barbara and author of The Murder of Helen Jewett: The Life and Death of aProstitute in 19th Century New York (1998).
Now back in print, A Calculating People reveals how numeracy profoundly shaped the character of society in the early republic and provides a wholly original perspective on the development of modern America.
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Numeracy in Seventeenth-Century England2. Colonial Counting3. Patterns and Providence4. Republican Arithmetic5. Statistics and the State6. The Census of 1840 Conclusion Notes Index
"[An] exceptionally well-crafted book...Illuminating and richly detailed." -- Paul Starr, The New Republic
"An important volume...This thoughtful, original, and felicitous book deserves a broad audience." -- Michael Kammen, Journal of American History
"A classic study...This elegant cultural history of how numbers became America's most powerful signs, both for reasoning and persuasion, is crucial for understanding the transformation of 19th-century America." -- Richard D. Brown, University of Connecticut
An entertaining and informative history of the birth of the American passion for numbers, tracing the history of numeracy from its origins in the Enlightenment to its flowering in mid-nineteenth century America.
Über den Autor
Patricia Cline Cohen is Professor of History at the University of California at Santa Barbara and author of The Murder of Helen Jewett: The Life and Death of aProstitute in 19th Century New York (1998).
Inhaltsverzeichnis
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Numeracy in Seventeenth-Century England2. Colonial Counting3. Patterns and Providence4. Republican Arithmetic5. Statistics and the State6. The Census of 1840 Conclusion Notes Index
Klappentext
"A Calculating People" is an entertaining and informative history of the birth of the American passion for numbers, tracing the history of "numeracy" from its origins in the Enlightenment to its flowering in mid-19th century America. Patricia Cline Cohen focuses on episodes that illustrate the growing skill and enthusiasm for numbers in the colonies and early republic, from the controversial inauguration of the census in Jamestown and the West Indies to the role played by "statisticks" in politics and social reform. By examining the rising prestige of quantification, Cohen sheds light on the changing ways that Americans thought about their social, political and economic relations. Now back in print, "A Calculating People" reveals how numeracy profoundly shaped the character of society in the early republic and provides a wholly original perspective on the development of modern America.
