[NBLUG/talk] The Romans' ban on zero

[mrp]

On Thu, May 29, 2003 at 11:51:02AM -0700, Eric Eisenhart wrote:
> You're mostly correct.  Also, Steve is referring to a rather silly comment
> I'd made.

I stand somewhat corrected. :-)

I was aware of the distinction, though I failed to use it properly.
The Romans lacks both the numeral, as well as the concept of zero as
a number.  In spite of this handicap, they did manage some amazing
engineering feats.  They managed to construct bridges and aquaducts
that held together without morter and were designed to withstand the
wind loading with a precision that we couldn't equal until the advent
of mechanical calculators in the 40's.  The greeks also managed some
amazing mathematical tricks without zero.

The superiority of a base ten system becomes less obvious if you use
less convienent values.  Say, if it were 18 boxes of 26 items per box.
However, A base ten system will let you use tricks like Naiper's Bones
and long division.

   -- Mitch