The science of numbers: does language help or hinder?

This paper examines Roy Harris’ discussion of number and the language of science in his book History, Science and the Limits of Language in light of recent work in cognitive linguistics. While many of his points are valid, linguistic theory has since addressed some of these concerns by formulating usage-based, cognitive frameworks to explore and understand language phenomena. These accounts show how the language of mathematics is construed by recourse to processes such as metaphor and metonomy.