Counting vs. measuring: reflections on number roots between epistemology and neuroscience

Pointing on some neuroscience results, concerning the presence in our brain of two distinct prelinguistic systems for processing numbers, we compare different views on the cognitive roots of numbers, in epistemology, psychology and math education. The conclusion is that the two distinct processes of counting and measuring should be better integrated in early math education. To this purpose, an example is reported and commented, of a revealing cognitive behaviour of very young children.