A Calculating People: The Spread of Numeracy in Early America

by Patricia Cline Cohen

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138149021
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

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 a Prostitute in 19th Century New York (1998).

Table of Contents

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Numeracy in Seventeenth-Century England2. Colonial Counting3. Patterns and Providence4. Republican Arithmetic5. Statistics and the State6. The Census of 1840 Conclusion Notes Index

Editorial Reviews

"[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

From the Publisher