MemeStreams | MemeStreams Discussion

Create an Account

This page contains all of the posts and discussion on MemeStreams referencing the following web page: Incan Counting System Decoded?. You can find discussions on MemeStreams as you surf the web, even if you aren't a MemeStreams member, using the Threads Bookmarklet.

Incan Counting System Decoded?
by Decius at 12:40 am EST, Feb 3, 2004

] According to De Pasquale, the circles in the cells are
] nothing but the first numbers of the Fibonacci series, in
] which each number is a sum of two previous: 1, 2, 3, 5.
]
]
] The abacus would then work on a base 40 numbering system.

sounds pretty cool, if unverifiable for the time being.

RE: Incan Counting System Decoded?
by Acidus at 10:17 am EST, Feb 3, 2004

Decius wrote:
] ] According to De Pasquale, the circles in the cells are
] ] nothing but the first numbers of the Fibonacci series, in
] ] which each number is a sum of two previous: 1, 2, 3, 5.
] ]
] ]
] ] The abacus would then work on a base 40 numbering system.
]
] sounds pretty cool, if unverifiable for the time being.

"You look long enough at anything and you will see everything you want to"

Fibonacci sequences occur alot in nature, and the world. Finding something that matches a pattern hardly means you found a match.

While I enjoy learning about mezo-american culture, I think it would be neat to see more about this. Occam's Razor it. Why is our number system base ten? We have ten fingers. Are other number bases faster? Sure, but we use base ten because it is easiest. I 'd like to think the Incan's were super smart and decided I know, we will use base 40 instead of base 10. but I doubt this

Incan Counting System Decoded?
by jlang at 1:19 pm EST, Feb 2, 2004

Jan. 29, 2004 The Inca invented a powerful counting system that could be used to make complex calculations without the tiniest mistake, according to an Italian engineer who claims to have cracked the mathematics of this still mysterious ancient population.

[...]

Recent studies are investigating the hypothesis that elaborated knotted strings known as khipu contain a hidden written language stored following a seven-bit binary code. Nobody, however, had been able to explain the meaning of these geometrical tablets known as yupana.

Different in size and shape, the yupana had been often interpreted as a stylized fortress model. Some scholars also interpreted it as a counting board, but how the abacus would have worked remained a mystery.

"It took me about 40 minutes to solve the riddle. I am not an expert on pre-Columbian civilizations. I simply decoded a 16th century drawing from a book on mathematical enigmas I received as a Christmas present," engineer Nicolino De Pasquale said.

There are redundant posts not displayed in this view from the following users: Shannon, k.