Introduction to Numbers

From Numbers That Mean Things to Numbers That Do Things

 

In the introduction of his book The Universal machine, Ian Watson said “In less than one lifespan the computer has transformed almost everything in our society.” This was something I never thought about while working in the technology field. When I started my research I remembered that I went through high school and Navy Electronic Technician school without using a computer or even using the word technology. I remembered that I was over 20 years old before I had seen a computer, and over 30 years old before I owned one. But my research has also shown me that the concept of computing has been influencing society for hundreds of years, spanning many generations. 

For many in the science, engineering and mathematical fields, history and heritage with it’s connections to society, culture and life in general, was of little interest. But every time we encounter something new we relate it to the past. For example, my academic study was largely in electron tube theory. The first time I encountered a transistor research showed me I should relate it to a three element electron tube called a triode. At the time, I didn’t think of it as looking back in history. I was relating previously acquired knowledge to something I didn’t know, learning something new from something old. 

Today we say we are in the digital age. As a matter of fact, we have been here for over 100 years, since the telegraph was first used. It was digital (on - off), just like that cellphone in your pocket or purse. I remember when cellphones came out, we called them new, actually, the hardware circuits and the software methods used to control those circuits had been around for many years in other equipment doing other things. For example, the present computer bit patterns of our number system and alphabet can be seen in the 100 year old bit patterns of our first telegraph signals. 

When we are young, we help build the future using knowledge and experience gained from the past. This is why the road to discovery is just as important as the discovery itself. Because if the discovery proves to be wrong or if in later years, the discovery causes problems, we need a way to go back and recheck everything; so we can find out what went wrong and why. 

Science is the systematic knowledge of the physical and material world gained through observation, exploration, and experimentation of the discovery. The Scientific Method gives us the how and man’s social and science philosophies give us the why of a discovery. Knowing the how and why of the discovery opens new roads to new discoveries, both now and in the future. Inherent in each new discovery is the science, philosophy, scientific method and social attitudes of previous discoveries. Our Heritage of Technology goes back to the beginnings of philosophy and science. But first, we must take a look at the language of both science and technology – Numbers.