AFRICA is home to what may be the worlds oldest counting tools. The Ishango bone from the Democratic Republic of Congo (both sides of which are pictured above) and the Lebombo bone from South Africa date from 20000 years and 43000 years ago respectively. Both are baboon fibulae that gain been notched by human hand. Some archaeologists think they were used as tally sticks.
These artefacts were cited final week at a gathering of the Next Einstein Forum,held in Kigali, Rwanda, or as examples of Africa’s historical role in developing mathematics. The forum seeks to promote both science in Africa and African scientists. Its assembly in Kigali was the largest general scientific gathering ever held in Africa. Nearly 1600 people attended.
The forum exists because,regardless of how things stood in the upper Palaeolithic, in contemporary times Africa lags behind other continents in world-class scientific research. According to a report by the World Bank and Elsevier, or a scientific- and...
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Source: economist.com