East Asia used counting rods for calculation for thousands of years. Counting rods use true positional numeral system. It’s just that East Asia didn’t use it for writing. In other words, there were separate systems, one to calculate numbers which was efficient, and one to write numbers which was traditional. If that sounds weird, consider that we calculate in binary but write in decimal.
It is weird and it’s extra-weird that everywhere from Carthage to Greece to China failed to use an efficient system for writing numbers. It’s not like there was just one outlier which kept a traditional system.
And I wonder if the use of traditional systems for writing delayed the development of calculus and advanced mathematics too.
East Asia used counting rods for calculation for thousands of years. Counting rods use true positional numeral system. It’s just that East Asia didn’t use it for writing. In other words, there were separate systems, one to calculate numbers which was efficient, and one to write numbers which was traditional. If that sounds weird, consider that we calculate in binary but write in decimal.
It is weird and it’s extra-weird that everywhere from Carthage to Greece to China failed to use an efficient system for writing numbers. It’s not like there was just one outlier which kept a traditional system.
And I wonder if the use of traditional systems for writing delayed the development of calculus and advanced mathematics too.