[OT]Big endian eggs

Matej Kosik kosik at decef.elf.stuba.sk
Sun Aug 24 15:00:08 UTC 2003


On Fri, Aug 22, 2003 at 03:41:05PM -0700, Colin Putney wrote:
> 
> On Friday, August 22, 2003, at 02:22 PM, Andreas Raab wrote:
> 
> > And now that we got this let's go back to the roots for real. Why do we
> > actually write numbers big-endian? ;-)
> 
> Well, actually we write them little-endian in a right-to-left script. 
> Whoever stole arabic numerals from the arabs apparently didn't bother 
> to do the required digit-swapping when using them with the Roman 
> alphabet. Perhaps it was because Roman numerals were big-endian.
> 
> Colin
> 

I think that important fact is that:

- Arabs read/write the digits of a number from less significant to most significant.
  They write and read the numbers in the same direction as they write ordinary
  words (if have a correct information). This is very convenient.
- We (Slovaks/English/...) read/write the digits of a number from the most significat
  to less significant. We write the digits in the same order as we write other signs
  (letters).

So the way we write the arabic letters (either in English or in Arabic)
fits well to that language.

The writing, language, grammar etc affect human thinking (and vice vesa).
"Thanks" to the Roman numerals the Roman nation didn't made a comparative
breakthrough in abstract mathematics as for example Greeks or Arabs.
-- 
Matej Kosik <http://infobox.sk/kosik>
ICQ: 300133844



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