Satan's numbers

In my bookshelf I have a cool book titled Number Theory and It's History by Øystein Ore (Dover Classics series). I bought it many years ago, when I was a student.

Number theory is a subject for people with kind of weird interests. It's a branch of pure mathematics, dealing with fundamental properties of numbers; integers, prime numbers and fractions of integers (I prefer applied math).

Most interesting is the first part of the book, about the history of numbers.

People of ancient times have been dealing with number systems of different kinds. They seam to be linked to human anatomy. The common modern number system is base 10, which is the number of fingers on two hands (unless you happen to work in a sawmill).

The Mayas used a base 20 number system. That's the total count of fingers and toes (unless you're an Arctic explorer). Some African tribes have used base 5, the number of fingers on one hand.

The Babylonians used a base 60 system. I'm not sure why, but 60 is kind of a magic number, since it can be divided into all integers from 1 to 6. Still we have remnants from the Babylonians in our time keeping; 60 seconds per minute and 60 minutes per hour. Moreover, a full rotation around the clock is 6*60=360 degrees.

When we agree on a base 10 system, we know that, for instance, 123 means 1*100+2*10 +3. With a different base, the interpretation of the number becomes different.

In computer science, they sometimes use base 8 (octal) numbers, because 8=2*2*2 is closely related to the binary numbers (base 2) that computers use internally. In base 8, the number 123 means 1*64+2*8+1 (since 64=8*8).

From anatomy consideration, base 8 should also be the prefered number system of Disneyland. You have noticed the hands of Donald Duck and his friends?

In ancient Rome, they used the Roman numerals. They are still used in Hollywood to give the production year of a movie in an unreadable way. The Roman numerals were useful for counting, but hard to apply in calculations. About 1000 years ago, the Arabic numerals (which is what we still use) were introduced in Europe. They become popular because calculations with large numbers got much easier.

The Catholics didn't like the new number system (they have always been against anything new). The Pope stated that the Arabic numerals were the work of Satan.

It's fun that today even Catholics use Arabic numerals. It's one of the great victories of Satan >:D

(Watch out! Satan is everywhere, and he might be near you. I took the picture above on the motorway in Moscow this summer. Satan caught my eye, even if he was driving upside down.)

Catholic flashback

It's kind of strange around here. We're Protestants most of the time, but for one week every year, we're Catholics. (This doesn't include myself, though. I'm Atheist all the time.)

500 years ago, the Catholics were kicked out of the country, and the last arch bishop had to flee our town. We have been Protestants ever since. But every summer, we have a Catholic flashback. It's the full package; vesper and midnight mass, pilgrim walks with munks and nuns, fighting the lust of the flesh, in sneakers and Gore-Tex jackets (depending on weather). And there's a lot of regular tourists of course.

In the last week of July and first week of August, we have a festival to celebrate the holy king who brought Christianity to our country, 1000 years ago. We can discuss if this was an advantage or not. Anyway, it's a historical fact that it happened.

The kings mission was simple and efficient: Get christened or get killed. No wonder Christianity was such a great success.

The king was killed in a battle 1000 years ago, when he met resistance from an army of peasants. Every summer there is a historical play, an hour drive (with car, not horse) north of town. The play is performed outdoor at the battle field, and recreates the political situation and conflicts leading up to the battle. (The battle itself, though, takes place backstage).

I've seen the play 3 or 4 times. It's quite interesting and entertaining, for the kids too.

The king caused miracles for those who were in contact with his dead body, sick and blind people were healed, and the king's hair continued to grow after his death (according to the saga). He was canonized by the local arch bishop; later confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1160.

The medieval cahtedral in our town is built on the grave of the holy king, who is known as Saint Olav.

(The summer festival is not only about gods and saints. There are various types of entertainment too. Last night I attended a concert with Jan Garbarek Group outside of the cathedral. I took a couple of pictures, even though it was not allowed. The drummer was very good, and he played the same brand of cymbals that I have; Zildjian. Good stuff.)