Grant Edwards wrote:
> 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.
Yes, it was. ("Our spy's message says that Cyrus the Great has '6 '
troops. Does that mean 360 or 21,600?")
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