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> Even the high score concept is foreign to a man who doesn’t know about the modern arabic numerals I used to work for an Arab guy back in the day. He wasn't v
by beebeepka 5y ago
> Even the high score concept is foreign to a man who doesn’t know about the modern arabic numerals
I used to work for an Arab guy back in the day. He wasn't very familiar with Roman numerals but what we call Arabic numerals, he calls Indian numerals.
On topic: thanks, I didn't know about this console. I do remember (fondly) their tiny handhelds, though
- xenadu02 5y agoTIL Europeans called them "Arabic" numerals because they were in use in parts of the Arab world and popularized by a Persian mathematician (who called them "Hindu numerals") I also wasn't aware that they are a relatively recent invention from somewhere between 1st-4th century.
- rob74 5y agoYeah, I found that fascinating too when I first found out about it: the Arabs invented the concept of decimal numbers, but the characters they use are mostly completely different: 0 is just a dot, 1 is a more or less vertical line, the only number instantly recognizable is the 9 (https://www.lexisrex.com/Arabic-Numbers/1-100 https://www.lexisrex.com/Arabic-Numbers/1-100)
- unmole 5y ago> the Arabs invented the concept of decimal numbers No, it was invented by Indian mathematicians.
- msravi 5y agoNo, the Arabs didn't invent it. al-Khwarzimi, a Persian scholar, introduced it into the Arab world with his book: "On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals" around 820 CE. The Hindu Bakhshali manuscript carbon-dated to between 200-400 CE, uses the "shunya" or zero symbol both as a placeholder in the decimal place-value system, and as a numeral involved in computations.
- foxhop 5y agoTurn 2 and 3 on their side and they become our version.
- bee_rider 5y agoI can definitely see how 4 could become our version, especially if it needed to be written in a way that distinguishes it from epsilon as it spread into Europe.