Table of Contents History of Numbers: Essay Introduction

Table of Contents

1. 
   History of Numbers: Essay Introduction
   
2. 
   The Egyptians/Babylonians Number History
   
3. 
   The Hindu-Arabic Number History
   
4. 
   The Mayan Number History
   
5. 
   History of Numbers: Essay Conclusion
   
6. 
   Works Cited
   

This paper explores the evolution of number system from ancient to modern. Here, you’ll find information on the development of number system of the Egyptians/Babylonians, Romans, Hindu-Arabics, and Mayans.


History of Numbers: Essay Introduction
The evolution of numbers developed differently with disparate versions, which include the Egyptian, Babylonians, Hindu-Arabic, Mayans, Romans, and the modern American number systems. The developmental history of counting is based on mathematical evolution, which is believed to have existed before the counting systems of numbers started (Zavlatsky 124).
The history of mathematics in counting started with the ideas of the formulation of measurement methods, which the Babylonians and Egyptians used, the introduction of pattern recognition in number counting in pre-historical times, the organization concepts of different shapes, sizes, and numbers by the pre-historical people, and the natural phenomenon observance and universe behaviors. This paper will highlight the evolution history of counting by the Egyptians/Babylonians, Romans, Hindu-Arabic, and Mayans’ counting systems. Moreover, the paper will outline the reasons why Western counting systems are widely used contemporarily.
The Egyptians/Babylonians Number History
The need for counting arose from the fact that the ancient people recognized the measurements in terms of more or less. Even though the assumption of numbers based its arguments on archeological evidence about 50,000 years ago, the counting system developed its background from the ancient recognition of more and less during routine activities (Higgins 87). Moreover, ancient people’s need for simple counting in history developed odd or even, more or less, and other forms of number systems evolved into the current counting systems. The need for counting developed from the fact that people needed a way of counting groups of individuals through population increase by birth. In addition, Menninger asserts that the daily activities of the pre-historical people, like cattle keeping and barter trade led to the need for counting and value determination (105).
For instance, in order to count cows, prehistoric people used sticks. Collecting and allocating sticks to count the animals helped determine the total number of animals present. The mathematical history evolved from marking rows on bones, tallying, and pattern recognition, which led to the introduction of numbers. The bones and wood were marked, as shown below.
Fig.1: Wood and stones carvings. (Ifrah and Bello198).
Moreover, the development of numbers evolved from spoken words by pre-historical people. However, the pattern of numbers from one to ten has been difficult to trace. Fortunately, any pattern of numbers past ten is recognizable and easily traceable. For instance, eleven evolved from ein lifon, which was used to mean ‘one left’ over by the prehistoric people. Twelve developed from the lif, which meant “two leftovers” (Higgins 143). In addition, thirteen was traced from three and four from fourteen, and the pattern continued to nineteen. One hundred is derived from the word “ten times” (Ifrah and Bello 147). Furthermore, the written words used by the ancient people, like notches on wood carvings, stone carvings, and knots for counting, gave a solid base for the evolution of counting.
The Incas widely used counting boards for record-keeping. The Incas used the “quip,” which helped the pre-historical people record the items in their daily lives. The counting boards were painted with three different color levels. These were the darkest parts, representing the highest numbers; the lighter parts, representing the second-highest levels; and the white parts, representing the stone compartments (Havil 127). In addition, the quip was used to do fast mathematical computations (Zavlatsky 154). Generally, the quip used knots on cords, which were arranged in a certain way to give certain numeral information. However, the quip systems of record keeping and information have been associated with several mysteries which have not yet been established. Examples of how the knots looked are shown below.


Fig.2: Knots and cords used by the Babylonians (Havil 187).