Abstract
The binary number system (base 2) is a positional number system which uses two binary digits 0 and 1. The binary system is ideally suited to the digital world of computers, as a binary digit may be implemented by an on-off switch. Digital devices that store information or data on permanent storage media such as disks and CDs or temporary storage media such as random-access memory (RAM) consist of many memory elements that may be in one of two states (i.e., on or off).
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Notes
- 1.
Other bases have been employed in ancient civilisations such as the segadecimal (or base 60) system used by the Babylonians. The decimal system was developed by Indian and Arabic mathematicians between 800 and 900 AD, and it was introduced to Europe in the late twelfth/early thirteenth century. It is known as the Hindu-Arabic system.
- 2.
Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz was a German philosopher, mathematician, and inventor in the field of mechanical calculators. He developed the binary number system used in digital computers and invented the calculus independently of Sir Isaac Newton. He was embroiled in a bitter dispute with Newton toward the end of his life, with respect to who invented the calculus first.
- 3.
A binary number system was also described in an ancient Indian Sanskrit text (the Chandahsastra) written around the second century BC, by Pingala.
References
Leibniz WG (1703) Explication de l’Arithmétique Binaire Memoires de l’Academie Royale des Sciences
Claude Shannon (1937) A symbolic analysis of relay and switching circuits. Masters thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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O’Regan, G. (2018). Binary Number System. In: The Innovation in Computing Companion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02619-6_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02619-6_12
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