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Episode details

Radio 3,4 mins

Finger-counting and the medieval mind

Free Thinking

Available for over a year

Extraordinary finger manipulation and close observation allowed us to do arithmetic for hundreds of years and as such was the glue in society from the market to the monastery. Seb Falk has been scouring manuscripts for best practise and explains why counting in this way has a great deal to say about the medieval mind. Picture Credit: AHRC/Steve Haywood

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