African and Multicultural Mathematics,
Ethnomathematics,
Mathematics Education, etc.

Selected Works
In Particular by Claudia Zaslavsky

Classified List

Click here for a chronological list of items by Claudia Zaslavsky.

Index

African Cultural Math
African Amongst Other Math
Multicultural Math and Math Education
Equity Issues
Other Math Education
Biography

African Cultural Math
- Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Culture
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Boston: Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, 1973.
  The original and still classic book on African cultural mathematics: number words, geometrical forms, applications of numbers, hand gestures, games, and more. Hardcover edition is out of print.
  
  Extended review by R.W. Wilder in Historia Mathematica, Vol. 2 (1975), pp. 207-210.
  
  Paperback reprint:
  Westport, Conn.: Lawrence Hill and Co., 1979.
  Second edition:
  Brooklyn, N.Y.: Lawrence Hill Books, 1990.
  Third edition:
  Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Cultures
  Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books (Chicago Review Press), 1999.
  (Web ordering information from the Independent Publishers Group.)
  Afrika Számol
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Budapest: Gondolat, 1984.
  Hungarian translation of Africa Counts.
  
  L'Afrique Compte! Nombres, formes et démarches dans la culture africaine
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Marseille, France: Éditions du Choix, 1995.
  French translation of Africa Counts.
  
  Excerpts published online:
  Ethnomathematics Digital Library,
  http://www.ethnomath.org/resources/zaslavsky1999.pdf
- Count On Your Fingers African Style
  by Claudia Zaslavsky. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.
  New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1980.
  Some varieties of African hand and finger gestures for numbers. A book for children. National Council of Christians and Jews citation. Notable Social Studies Book (National Council for Social Studies, 1980). Outstanding Science Book (National Science Teachers Association, 1980). Honor book for the 1981 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award of the American Library Association.
  Count On Your Fingers African Style (revised edition)
  by Claudia Zaslavsky. Illustrated by Wangechi Mutu.
  [New York]: Black Butterfly Books (division of Writers and Readers Publishing), 1999. Distributed by Publishers Group West.
- African games of strategy: a teaching manual
  by Louise Crane.
  [Urbana]: African Studies Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1982.
  African outreach series, No. 2.
- Mancala Games
  by Laurence Russ.
  Reference Publishers, 1984.
  - Second, slightly revised edition:
    The Complete Mancala Games Book: How to Play the World's Oldest Board Games
    by Larry Russ.
    Marlowe and Co., 1999.
- L'Awélé: Le jeu des semailles africaines [Oware: The African Game of Seeds]
  by Pascal Reysset and Francois Pingaud.
  Paris: Chiron, 1993.
- Women, Art and Geometry in Southern Africa
  by Paulus Gerdes.
  Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1998.
- Geometry from Africa: Mathematical and Educational Explorations
  by Paulus Gerdes.
  Paperbound.
  Washington: Mathematical Association of America, 1999.
- African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design
  by Ron Eglash.
  New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1999.
- Science and an African Logic
  by Helen Verran.
  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.
  (Web ordering information.)
- Awakening of Geometrical Thought in Early Culture
  by Paulus Gerdes.
  Minneapolis: MEP Publications, 2003.
  ISBN 0-930656-75X.
  (Web ordering information.)
  Title also appears as Awakening of Geometric Thought in Early Culture.
- Mathematics in African History and Cultures: An Annotated Bibliography
  by Paulus Gerdes and Ahmed Djebbar.
  African Mathematical Union, 2004.
  A French version was (2004) to be published by the University of Lille.
  - Second edition.
    Lulu, 2007. Paperback and electronic.
    ISBN 978-1-4303-1537-7.
- Marianne Schmidl (1890-1942): Das unvollendete Leben und Werk einer Ethnologin [Marianne Schmidl (1890-1942): The Unfinished Life and Work of an Ethnologist]
  With the text of "Afrikanische Spiralwulstkörbe" ["African spiral bulge baskets"] by Marinna Schmidl,
  by Katja Geisenhainer.
  Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2005.
  ISBN 978-386583087-6.
  Biography of an early woman ethnologist who wrote the first known study of African cultural mathematics (see list of articles), who as a woman and a Jew was refused employment as an academic, and who as a Jew was killed by the Nazis.
  
  Reviewed in Ulrich Oberdiek, ed., Anthropological Abstracts: Cultural/Social Anthropology from German-Speaking Countries, Vol. 4, 2005, p. 34. Lit Verlag, Berlin, 2005.
- African Doctorates in Mathematics: A Catalogue
  by Paulus Gerdes.
  Lulu, 2007. Paperback and electronic.
  ISBN 978-1-4303-1867-5.
  (Web ordering information.)
  A catalogue of over 2000 doctoral theses by Africans in all fields of mathematics, including applied mathematics, mathematics education and history of mathematics.
  
  Articles
- Zahl und Zählen in Afrika
  by Marianne Schmidl.
  Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien, Vol. 45 (1915), pp. 165-209.
  The first known study of African cultural mathematics. The author's doctoral dissertation on African number systems.
- Black African traditional mathematics
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Mathematics Teacher, Vol. 63 (1970), pp. 345-356.
- Mathematics of the Yoruba people and of their neighbors in southern Nigeria
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Two-Year College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 1 (1970), pp. 76-99.
- The geometry of African art. I. Bakuba art
  by Donald W. Crowe.
  Journal of Geometry, Vol. 1 (1971), pp. 169-172.
  Applies geometric symmetry groups to artistic patterns.
- Africa in the mainstream of mathematics history
  by Beatrice Lumpkin.
  Pp. 100-109 in:
  Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern
  edited by I. Van Sertima.
  New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1973.
  - Reprinted with a new postscript as Chapter 5, pp. 101-117, in:
    Ethnomathematics: Challenging Eurocentrism in Mathematics Education
    edited by Arthur B. Powell and Marilyn Frankenstein.
    Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1997.
  Concentrates on the intellectual tradition of mathematics in North Africa.
- Geometric symmetries in African art
  by D[onald] W. Crowe.
  Chapter 14, Part II, pp. 190-196, in:
  Africa Counts
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Boston: Prindle, Weber & Schmidt, 1973.
  Generously contributed to the book by Prof. Crowe, based on his extensive collection of materials.
  
  See complete book data above.
- Mathematics in the study of African culture
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 20 (Nov., 1973), pp. 532-535.
- The geometry of African art. II. A catalog of Benin patterns
  by Donald W. Crowe.
  Historia Mathematica, Vol. 2 (1975), pp. 253-271.
  Applies geometric symmetry groups to artistic patterns.
- Erratum to: `The geometry of African art. I, II.'
  by Donald W. Crowe.
  Historia Mathematica, Vol. 2 (1975), p. 617.
- African network patterns
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Mathematics Teaching, No. 73 (Dec., 1975), pp. 12-13.
- African stone game
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Teacher, Vol. 94 (Oct., 1976), pp. 110-112.
- African numbers
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Teacher, Vol. 94 (Nov., 1976), pp. 91-96.
- African patterns
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Mathematics Teacher, Vol. 70 (May, 1977), p. 386.
- It's OK to count on your fingers
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Teacher, Vol. 96, No. 6 (Feb., 1979), pp. 54-56.
  - Excerpts reprinted in:
    Education Digest (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Vol. 44, No. 8 (April, 1979), pp. 57-59.
- Symmetry and other mathematical concepts in African life
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Pp. 82-95 in:
  Applications in School Mathematics (1979 Yearbook)
  edited by Sidney Sharron et al.
  Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1979.
- People who live in round houses
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  The Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Sept., 1989), pp. 18-21.
  Spanish description.
- ``Women as the first mathematicians''
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  WME Newsletter [Newletter of Women in Mathematics Education], Vol. 14, No. 1 (Fall, 1991), p. 4.
  According to the author, this article should not be taken literally! It is intended to provoke thought about the role of women in cultural development.
  - Reprinted with addendum in ISGEm Newsletter [Newsletter of the International Study Group for Ethnomathematics], Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jan., 1992).
  - Las Mujeres Como las Primeras Matemáticas
    Spanish translation of the reprint, in the Spanish translation of ISGEm Newsletter; at http://web.nmsu.edu/~pscott/isgems71.htm.
- Mathematics in Africa: Explicit and implicit
  by C. Zaslavsky.
  Part 1, Chapter 1.8, pp. 85-92, in Volume 1 of:
  Companion Encyclopedia of the History and Philosophy of the Mathematical Sciences
  edited by I. Grattan-Guinness.
  London, Routledge, 1994.
- `Africa Counts' and ethnomathematics
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  For the Learning of Mathematics, Vol. 14, No. 2 (June, 1994), pp. 3-8.
  How Africa Counts came to be written. Also, thoughts about and experiences with introducing multiculturalism into the elementary and secondary mathematics curriculum.
- On culture, geometrical thinking and mathematics education
  by Paulus Gerdes.
  Chapter 11, pp. 223-247, in:
  Ethnomathematics: Challenging Eurocentrism in Mathematics Education
  edited by Arthur B. Powell and Marilyn Frankenstein.
  Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1997.
  Describes some uses of mathematical methods in Mozambican culture.
- Marianne Schmidl (1890-1942)
  by Katja Geisenhainer.
  Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, Vol. 127 (2002), pp. 269-300.
  Short biography; see the book-length biography.
  
  Book Reviews
- Geometry from Africa: Mathematical and Educational Explorations, by Paulus Gerdes.
  Washington: Mathematical Association of America, 1999.
  Review by Claudia Zaslavsky appeared in:
  Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal, No. 23 (Sept., 2000), pp. 55-57.
- Awakening of Geometrical Thought in Early Culture, by Paulus Gerdes.
  Minneapolis: MEP Publications, 2003. ISBN 0-930656-75X.
  Title also appears as Awakening of Geometric Thought in Early Culture.
  
  Review by Claudia Zaslavsky appeared in:
  Indilinga, African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Vol. 2 (2003), No. 1, pp. 115-116.
  Review also appeared in:
  History and Pedagogy of Mathematics Newsletter, No. 53 (July, 2003), pp. 9-10.
  Audio-Video
- Africa Counts
  with Claudia Zaslavsky and Lamin Mansary.
  Maths Miscellany, Cassette M000/F (1 audio cassette).
  Milton Keynes, Eng.: The Open University, ca. 1990.
  Originally a programme broadcast by the BBC. Cassette also contains a second programme in the same series.
African Amongst Other Math
- Mathematics Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Mathematics
  edited by Helaine Selin; advisory editor Ubiratan D'Ambrosio.
  Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2000.
  Contents and contributors.
  (Web ordering information from Kluwer: either hardcover or paperback.)
  Two articles are specifically on Africa, by P. Gerdes and H. Verran. Several articles deal with ethnomathematics and general multicultural aspects.
- Mathematics Elsewhere: An Exploration of Ideas Across Cultures
  by Marcia Ascher.
  Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
  Contents and ordering information.
  Honorable Mention, 2003: Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Mathematics and Statistics, awarded by the Association of American Publishers.
- Basketry, Geometry, and Symmetry in Africa and the Americas
  by Paulus Gerdes.
  Visual Mathematics, Special E-Book issue, 2004.
  Go to links "Papers" and then "Special E-book issue".
  A CD version will be available soon.
  
  The geometry and symmetries of designs and patterns created by mat and basket weavers in several African and American cultures. �The type of basketry discussed is twill basketry.
  
  Articles
- The Afro-American mathematical heritage
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Outlook, Vol. 20 (Summer, 1976), pp. 3-8.
- The shape of a symbol/The symbolism of a shape
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Teacher, Vol. 98 (Feb., 1981), pp. 36-43.
- Networks -- New York subways, a piece of string, and African traditions
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Oct., 1981), pp. 42-47.
  - Reprinted in:
    Activities for Junior High School and Middle School Mathematics, Vol. 2.
    Compiled by Kenneth E. Easterday, F. Morgan Simpson, and Tommy Smith.
    Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1999.
- From Howard Eves to Africa Counts to multicultural mathematics education
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Pp. 171-174 in:
  In Eves' Circles (Proceedings of the Howard Eves Conference)
  edited by Joby Milo Anthony.
  MAA Notes, No. 34.
  Washington: Mathematical Association of America, 1994.
- African networks and African-American students
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Pp. 157-166 in:
  Changing the Faces of Mathematics: Perspectives on African Americans
  edited by Marilyn Strutchens, Martin Johnson, and William F. Tate.
  Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000.
Multicultural Math and Math Education
- Multicultural Math: Hands-On Math Activities from Around the World
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  New York: Scholastic Professional Books, 1994.
  Series: Instructor Books.
  Activities for grades 3-6. Out of print. Click for description.
- The Multicultural Math Classroom: Bringing in the World
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 1996.
  For teachers of grades 1-8. Click for publisher's catalog and book description; Spanish description.
- Math Games and Activities from Around the World
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1998.
  (Web ordering information from the Independent Publishers Group.)
  For children ages 8 and up.
  - Jogos e atividades mathemáticas do mundo inteiro
    Porto Alegre, Brazil: Artmed Editora, 2000.
    ISBN 85-7307-626-7.
    Portuguese translation.
  - Complex Chinese edition,
    Taipei, Taiwan: Yuan T. Lee Foundation, 2002.
    ISBN 957-0352-23-X.
  - Japanese edition,
    Wani Books, 2004.
    ISBN 4-8470-1557-6.
  - Korean edition,
    Seoul, Korea: KyungMoon Publishers, 2005.
    ISBN 89-7282-825-4.
  - Juegos y actividades matemáticas de todo el mundo
    México, D.F.: Selector, 2005.
    ISBN 970-643-830-0.
    Spanish translation (abridged).
  - Zanimatel'naya Matematika
    Minsk: Popurri, 2005.
    ISBN 985-483-379-8.
    Russian translation.
  - Excerpts published online:
    Ethnomathematics Digital Library,
    http://www.ethnomath.org/resources/zaslavsky1998.pdf
- More Math Games and Activities from Around the World
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2003.
  (Web ordering information from the Independent Publishers Group.)
  (Telephone orders from the Independent Publishers Group: (800) 888-4741.)
  For children ages 9 and up.
  - Excerpts published online:
    Ethnomathematics Digital Library,
    http://www.ethnomath.org/resources/zaslavsky2003.pdf
  - Complex Chinese edition,
    Taiwan: Global Kids Books (Commonwealth Publishing Group), 2004.
  Articles
- Teacher education: Mathematics in other cultures
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Historia Mathematica, Vol. 6 (May, 1979), pp. 189-194.
- Mathematics education: The fraud of `Back to Basics' and the socialist counterexample
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Science and Nature, No. 4 (1981), pp. 15-27.
- As important as reading: Math education
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Cuba Times, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Summer, 1981), pp. 17--22.
- Three-in-a-row games
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Instructor, Vol. 92 (April, 1983), p. 120.
- Are the Russians ahead in Math Ed?
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  New York State Mathematics Teachers' Journal, Vol. 34, No. 2 (1984), pp. 89-92.
- Bringing the world into the math class
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Curriculum Review, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jan.-Feb., 1985), pp. 62-65.
  - Reprinted, pp. 76-78, in:
    Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice
    Milwaukee, Wisc.: Rethinking Schools, Ltd., 1994.
- Integrating mathematics with the study of cultural traditions
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Pp. 14-15 in:
  Mathematics, Education, and Society
  edited by Christine Keitel et al.
  Proceedings of the Fifth Day Special Programme at the Sixth International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-6), Budapest, 1988.
  Paris: UNESCO, 1989.
  Talk presented at the opening session of the Fifth Day.
- Symmetry in American folk art
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Sept., 1990), pp. 6-12.
- Multicultural mathematics education for the middle grades
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 38, No. 6 (Feb., 1991), pp. 8-13.
- World cultures in the mathematics class
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  For the Learning of Mathematics, Vol. 11, No. 2 (June, 1991), pp. 8-13.
  Talk at the International Conference on History in Mathematics Education, Leicester, U.K., 1990.
  - Reprinted as Chapter 15, pp. 307-320, in:
    Ethnomathematics: Challenging Eurocentrism in Mathematics Education
    edited by Arthur B. Powell and Marilyn Frankenstein.
    Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1997.
- A Multicultural Approach to Math Education
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  CONNECT, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Sept., 1992), pp. 1-2.
- Multicultural mathematics: One road to the goal of mathematics for all
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Chapter 4, pp. 45-55, in:
  Reaching All Students with Mathematics
  edited by Gibert Cuevas and Mark Driscoll.
  Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1993.
  Revised version published 2005.
- Generalizations and teaching strategies for mathematics
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Chapter, pp. 223-248, in:
  Planning and Organizing for Multicultural Instruction, 2nd edition,
  by Gwendolyn C. Baker.
  Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1993.
- From Howard Eves to Africa Counts to multicultural mathematics education
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Pp. 171-174 in:
  In Eves' Circles (Proceedings of the Howard Eves Conference)
  edited by Joby Milo Anthony.
  MAA Notes, No. 34.
  Washington: Mathematical Association of America, 1994.
- Bringing the world into the mathematics classroom
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Multicultural Approaches in Mathematics and Science.
  ENC Focus [Eisenhower National Clearing House], Vol. 5, No. 1 (1998), pp. 5-7.
  - Republished as:
    Bringing the world into the math classroom
    Eisenhower National Clearing House, online edition, September, 2004,
    http://www.enc.org/features/focus/archive/mathroots2/document.shtm?input=FOC-002356-index
    Has expanded author info.
- Ethnomathematics and multicultural mathematics education
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Teaching Children Mathematics, Vol. 4, No. 9 (May, 1998), pp. 502-503.
  The ``In My Opinion'' column.
  - Reprinted, pp. 8-9, in:
    Reflecting on NCTM's `Principles and Standards' in Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Readings from NCTM's School-Based Journals,
    edited by Anne R. Teppo.
    Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2002.
    Web ordering information.
- The Inka quipu: Positional notation on a knotted cord
  by Claudia Zaslavsky with Bianka Crespo.
  Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Nov., 2000), pp. 164-166, 180-184.
- Developing number sense: What can other cultures tell us?
  Teaching Children Mathematics, Vol. 7, No. 6 (Feb., 2001), 312-219.
- African customs as applied to the mathematics clasroom
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Pp. 16-17 in:
  Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education.
  Edited by Louise S. Grinstein and Sally I. Lipsey.
  New York and London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2001.
- Native American games and activities
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Chapter 13, pp. 151-155, in:
  Changing the Faces of Mathematics: Perspectives on Indigenous People of North America.
  Edited by Judith Elaine Hankes and Gerald R. Fast.
  Reston, VA: National Council of�Teachers of Mathematics, 2002.
- Yup'ik border patterns in the curriculum
  by Esther A. Ilutsik and Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Chapter 25, pp. 277-283, in:
  Changing the Faces of Mathematics: Perspectives on Indigenous People of North America.
  Edited by Judith Elaine Hankes and Gerald R. Fast.
  Reston, VA: National Council of�Teachers of Mathematics, 2002.
- Exploring world cultures in math class
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Educational Leadership, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Oct., 2002), pp. 66-69.
  ``When math curriculums incorporate the study of world cultures, students learn to appreciate cultural differences and critically examine their own society.''
- Magic squares
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Connect, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Nov./Dec., 2003), pp. 10-13.
- The influence of ancient Egypt on Greek and other numeration systems
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Nov., 2003), pp. 174-178.
- Multicultural math: One road to the goal of mathematics for all
  by Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Chapter 14, pp. 124-129 in:
  Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers,
  edited by Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson.
  Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools, 2005.
  Revised version of "Multicultural mathematics: One road to the goal of mathematics for all" (1993).
  
  Book Reviews
- Socialist Mathematics Education by Frank J. Swetz.
  Burgundy Press, 1978.
  Review by Claudia Zaslavsky appeared in:
  Science and Society, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Summer, 1980), pp. 244-247.
- Symmetries of Culture: Theory and Practice of Plane Pattern Analysis, by Dorothy K. Washburn and Donald W. Crowe.
  Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988.
  Review by Claudia Zaslavsky appeared in:
  AWM Newletter, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan.-Feb., 1990), pp. 9--11.
  Activity cards
- Building bridges to mathematics: Cultural connections
  by Gloria Gilmer, S. Soniat-Thompson, and Claudia Zaslavsky.
  Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1992.
  Activity cards for grades K-8.
Equity Issues in Math and Math Education
Other Math and Math Education
Biography