Base 5: The Number That Lives in a Hand
In short: From Kobon body counting to Roman fives and the soroban's single upper bead, a short look at how the number 5 and the human hand meet in language and tools, and at how number concepts first arose, which is still debated.
A 1:20 short film in the series “From Fingers to Qubits”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.
Sources used in this film: WALS Online (The World Atlas of Language Structures), chapter by Bernard Comrie, “WALS Online - Chapter Numeral Bases”; Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (article by Andreea S Calude, 2021), hosted on PubMed Central by the US National Library of Medicine, “The history of number words in the world's languages—what have we learnt so far?”; Cambridge University Press / Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (James A. S. Barrett, 'A Note on the Roman Numerals', Volume 28, 1908), “VIII.—A Note on the Roman Numerals. | Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | Cambridge Core”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Where do Roman numerals come from? | Britannica”; Smithsonian Institution (National Museum of American History), “Soroban, or Japanese Abacus | Smithsonian Institution”; Springer Nature (journal Synthese); article by César Frederico dos Santos, published 1 June 2021, “Enculturation and the historical origins of number words and concepts”; Communications of the ACM (BLOG@CACM, post by Herbert Bruderer, 10 Oct 2017), “The Binary System Was Created Long Before Leibniz”.
Sources used in this film
- WALS Online (The World Atlas of Language Structures), chapter by Bernard Comrie — WALS Online - Chapter Numeral Bases · View →
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (article by Andreea S Calude, 2021), hosted on PubMed Central by the US National Library of Medicine — The history of number words in the world's languages—what have we learnt so far? · View →
- Cambridge University Press / Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (James A. S. Barrett, 'A Note on the Roman Numerals', Volume 28, 1908) — VIII.—A Note on the Roman Numerals. | Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | Cambridge Core · View →
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Where do Roman numerals come from? | Britannica · View →
- Smithsonian Institution (National Museum of American History) — Soroban, or Japanese Abacus | Smithsonian Institution · View →
- Springer Nature (journal Synthese); article by César Frederico dos Santos, published 1 June 2021 — Enculturation and the historical origins of number words and concepts · View →
- Communications of the ACM (BLOG@CACM, post by Herbert Bruderer, 10 Oct 2017) — The Binary System Was Created Long Before Leibniz · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures), chapter by Bernard Comrie: WALS Online - Chapter Numeral Bases
- Also: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (article by Andreea S Calude, 2021), hosted on PubMed Central by the U: The history of number words in the world's languages—what have we learnt so far?
- Also: Cambridge University Press / Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (James A. S. Barrett, 'A Note on the Roman Nu: VIII.—A Note on the Roman Numerals. | Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | Cambridge Core
- Also: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Where do Roman numerals come from? | Britannica
- Also: Smithsonian Institution (National Museum of American History): Soroban, or Japanese Abacus | Smithsonian Institution
- Also: Springer Nature (journal Synthese); article by César Frederico dos Santos, published 1 June 2021: Enculturation and the historical origins of number words and concepts
- Also: Communications of the ACM (BLOG@CACM, post by Herbert Bruderer, 10 Oct 2017): The Binary System Was Created Long Before Leibniz
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