Professor Brian Butterworth describes studies ancient and modern that support the idea that other creatures, from fish, and even insects, to ancient members of genus Homo counted and
Brian Butterworth is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology in the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, where he is currently working with colleagues around the world on the neuroscience and the genetics of mathematical abilities and disabilities in humans and other animals. He was elected Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 1993, and Fellow of the British Academy in 2002. His popular science book, The Mathematical Brain (1999) was a best seller. The Dyscalculia Screener (2003) revolutionized the identification of this specific learning disability. His latest book is Can fish count? What animals reveal about our uniquely mathematical mind (2022). Is arithmetic just something you learn, or fail to learn, at school? Or is it based on a mechanism for counting and calculating that we have inherited from our distant, or perhaps not so distant, ancestors? We all think we know what counting is, but is there a rigorous scientific description? In this talk, Brian Butterworth will propose a scientific definition, and describe studies ancient and modern that support the idea that other creatures, from fish, and even insects, to ancient members of genus Homo counted and calculated. Like all capacities we inherit, such as seeing the world in colour, this can go wrong, and Brain will describe a congenital disability that affects about 5% of us where the inheritance goes wrong – developmental dyscalculia.
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Location: ExCeL London, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, London, E16 1XL
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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