Binary number: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:23, 25 August 2025

Revision as of 19:35, 25 August 2025

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==History==

The modern binary number system was studied in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries by [[Thomas Harriot]], an English mathematician and [[Gottfried Leibniz]]. However, systems related to binary numbers have appeared earlier in multiple cultures including ancient Egypt, China, Europe and India.

===Egypt===

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In the late 13th century [[Ramon Llull]] had the ambition to account for all wisdom in every branch of human knowledge of the time. For that purpose he developed a general method or "Ars generalis" based on binary combinations of a number of simple basic principles or categories, for which he has been considered a predecessor of computing science and artificial intelligence.<ref>(see Bonner 2007 [http://lullianarts.net/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403194204/http://lullianarts.net/|date=3 April 2014}}, Fidora et al. 2011 [https://www.iiia.csic.es/es/publications/ramon-llull-ars-magna-artificial-intelligence/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408011909/https://www.iiia.csic.es/es/publications/ramon-llull-ars-magna-artificial-intelligence/|date=8 April 2019}})</ref>

In 1605, and Englishman [[Francis Bacon]] discussed a system whereby letters of the alphabet could be reduced to sequences of binary digits, which could then be encoded as scarcely visible variations in the font in any random text.<ref name="Bacon1605" /> Importantly for the general theory of binary encoding, he added that this method could be used with any objects at all: "provided those objects be capable of a twofold difference only; as by Bells, by Trumpets, by Lights and Torches, by the report of Muskets, and any instruments of like nature".<ref name="Bacon1605">{{Cite web

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