Page:Smith - Number Stories of Long ago (1919).djvu/13

NUMBER STORIES This book is intended for supplementary reading in the elementary school. It is written in nontechnical language, and the effort has been made to connect with the history enough of the human element to make it more interesting than any mere recital of facts. With it there is also joined something of the history of writing materials, this being connected naturally with the story of our numbers. Chapters I-VIII can easily be read aloud, and the Question Box at the end of each chapter can be used as a basis for conversation or for written work.

The facts stated in the book are as nearly exact as the circumstances permit. It is not to be expected, however, that changes in the form of various numerals will be considered. Such changes are of no moment in a work of this nature and do not contradict the statement that the historical facts are presented with substantial accuracy.

It is the author's hope that this little series of human incidents will create a new interest not merely in the study of arithmetic but in the story of the development of our civilization.

DAVID EUGENE SMITH vi