Number words and number symbols
by Karl A. Menninger · first published 1969
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…The Russian Tchoty [3] does not divide the board, but rather uses 2 colors for beads. If you are interested in a ~comprehensive treatment of the history and types of ‘counting boards’, K. Menninger’s Number Words and Number Symbols [4] (where I read about Kiyoshi Matsuzaki aka “the Hands” beating Pvt. Thomas Ian Wood and his electronic calculator) is a good resource. quinary and decimal variants are addressed in fair detail. The…
on “A Soroban Beats an Electric Calculator (1946)” ↗…the device, but precise evidence on its nature or on the way it was used is remarkably scarce.... If you are interested in the general topic of number systems let me recommend Menninger’s classic book Number Words and Number Symbols. Or you could try Chrisomalis’s other book Numerical Notation. Or Ifrah, The Universal History of Numbers. If you want to know about medieval European counting boards, look up Barnard (1916) The Casting-Counter…
on “How to Multiply Roman Numerals” ↗…doll wanted to be an eagle, the donkey a lion and the monkey a queen, the zero put on airs and pretended to be a digit. [0] http://logic.harvard.edu/koellner/QAU_reprint.pdf [1] Menninger, Karl (1969), Number Words and Number Symbols. Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press.
on “The Logical Disaster of Null” ↗