Economical Number Bases

Extract

Throughout this article, all numerals are assumed to be in base ten notation, unless otherwise stated.

Under many of the new mathematics programmes currently in use in secondary schools, the topic “Numbers to different bases” is introduced. Indeed, provided such an elementary textbook series has chapters on Sets, Counting to different bases, Symmetry and/or Transformation Geometry, and, possibly, Vectors and Matrices, it is then allowed to write “Modern Mathematics” on its title page almost regardless of the methods employed in the book. However, my topic does not concern the vagaries of modern mathematics textbooks, their content and their methodology, but rather the question of why ten is used as a number base. Undoubtedly many of you already feel that you know, and that the reason is concerned with numbers of fingers and toes. However, one might try to decide more rationally whether ten is a sufficient base to represent the wide range of numbers with which we are normally concerned.