The Universe may be a Mystery, but it's no Secret!
Merple Math
number (503) prime (341) metrology (149) metric (141) metre (14) duodecimal (3) dozenal (1) base twelve (1)
Many people nowadays know that there are counting systems other than the usual decimal one; they will have heard of base two (binary) and base sixteen (hexadecimal) because the computer uses the former and colour codings are usually expressed in the latter. Neither is used in everyday calculations. The computer accepts data in base ten and churns it out again in base ten; how the computer does its work interests few of its users and what numbers it uses in its innards even fewer. The computer is quite happy
Is any one number base intrinsically better than another and more suitable for human calculations and daily work?
There are, and have been for many years, people who maintain that base ten is not the best choice for humans. Some people think base sixteen might be a good substitute for base ten to bring humans more in line with their computers, but base sixteen requires several new symbols and provides few arithmetical benefits for humans. But long before either hexadecimal or binary became familiar words, and before and ever since the French invented the metre and the decimal metric system, decimal notation and base te
The Universe may be a Mystery, but it's no Secret!
Merple Math