On 2006-05-09, Dan Bishop <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Grant Edwards wrote:
> ...
>> Did they actually have 60 unique number symbols and use
>> place-weighting in a manner similar to the arabic/indian system
>> we use?
>
> The Bablyonians did use a place-value system, but they only had two
> basic numerals: a Y-like symbol for 1 and a <-like symbol for ten.
> These were combined to make base-60 digits. For example, 59 was
> represented by
>
> < YYY
> < < YYY
>< < YYY
>
> Zero (used as a placeholder, but not as a number in itself) was
> represented by a space.
And they also (acording to the web pages I found) used base-60
floating point notation, but without an actual symbol to
represent the sexagesimal point. Which seems really ambiguous --
even to somebody who does know how to use a slide rule.
--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! I'm totally
at DESPONDENT over the LIBYAN
visi.com situation and the price
of CHICKEN...
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