ABSTRACT
Number systems provide the basis for conveying and quantifying information. Weather data, stocks,
pagination of books, weights and measures-these are just a few examples of the use of numbers that affect
our daily lives. For this purpose we find the decimal (or arabic) number system to be reliable and easy to
use. This system evolved presumably because early humans were equipped with a crude type of calculator,
their ten fingers. A number system that is appropriate for humans, however, may be intractable for use by a
machine such as a computer. Likewise, a number system appropriate for a machine may not be suitable for
human use.
