BASIC Language of MATHEMATICS

In the first part of the book I presented some evidence from different languages together with some mind-games, and suggested that mathematics did not need to develop as it has done. We do not generally consider mathematics as one of several options. I must now, therefore, augment Part I by providing a coherent picture of mathematics that both explains how this can be so, and also fits with our experiences and perceptions of the subject.
Part II fills out the picture of mathematics, giving just such an account of how it originated, how it develops, and what it means. Chapter 5 starts with two examples of a different kind of evidence from language, and then reviews the implications of all the langu- age evidence. In Chapters 6 and 7 the origins and development of mathematics are discussed respectively, and finally I address some philosophical issues. Part III examines educational implications.