In What Counts: How Every Brain Is Hardwired for Math, cognitive neuroscientist Brian Butterworth presents a groundbreaking exploration of the human capacity for numbers.
Contrary to the common belief that mathematical ability is reserved for a select few, Butterworth argues that every human brain is naturally equipped with a sense of number. This innate capacity, known as numerosity, allows us to perceive and compare quantities long before we learn formal mathematics.
Drawing on research from psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, and education, Butterworth reveals how the human brain processes numbers and why some individuals struggle with mathematics despite normal intelligence.
The book combines engaging storytelling with scientific insight, exploring how our mathematical abilities evolved, how they develop in children, and what happens when this system breaks down.
A pioneering work in the science of numerical cognition, What Counts helped shape modern understanding of how the brain understands numbers.
• Why humans possess an innate sense of number
• How children develop mathematical understanding
• The evolutionary origins of numerical cognition
• What neuroscience reveals about the “number sense” in the brain
• Why some people experience severe difficulty with mathematics
• How dyscalculia affects mathematical learning
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