1, 2, 3,. . . The "counting numbers" are part of us. We know them forward and backward. Babies as young as five months old, psychologists claim,1 are sensitive to the difference between 1 + 1 and 2 — 1. We sing numbers, counting up the days of Christmas and counting down to the poignant monotheism of "One is one and all alone and evermore shall be so."