Systems of the Past and Present

          A reflection on the number system.

          Number system for expressing numbers, that is, a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using digits or other symbols in a consistent manner. I have learned that there are various number systems, and different countries use number system that is basically based on their culture and beliefs. There is binary, octal, decimal, hexadecimal, base 60, mayan, egyptian, Chinese, Babylonian, roman number system and whatever that was not mentioned. The number system that we know is called the decimal. I have come to realize that decimal, the number system which we use, is the most convenient of them all.

          Binary is the use of the digits 0 and 1 and uses the power of 2. Octal or base 8, uses the number 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Decimal or base 10, is the system which we are using. Hexadecimal or base 16, uses the numbers 0 to 15, but the numbers 10 - 15 are represented by the letters A to F to avoid confusion. The Egyptian number system that is also in the base 10 uses symbols or known as hieroglyphs to denote different quantities. Babylonian Number System uses the base 60. It also use symbols to denote numbers but only to two numbers, 1 and 10. Chinese number system that uses Chinese characters to denote numbers. Roman number system that uses the letters I, V, X, L, C, D, M. The last one is the Mayan Number System that uses a period for 1 to 4, and a line for 5.

          I have learned and realized that mathematics have a great history, and not for what had happened and discovered in the past then maybe we are taking a different path in our present life. To think, there is a big chance that not for the decimal number system then mathematics would not have been this life changing or whatever you may call it. We are all saying that mathematics have been a great help in making our world to a whole new level, but what if these systems were not established? Can we still able to use mathematics in the different aspects of our lives? Or I was thinking will there still be mathematics? I keep on complaining when I am given mathematical equations to answer, especially when I am dealing with large numbers. But when I was introduced to other systems and realized how difficult it was to use such systems. I couldn’t imagine using other systems in algebra, calculus and the like. If I was already complaining with the decimal system, what more with using other number system? Because of what I’ve learned I also learned to appreciate the number system that we are using.