Why do we use the particular symbols we use for the numbers 1 through 10? And why base ten? The video below from Alessandra King offers a brief history of numbers, including the important shift to positional notation and the origins of our Hindu Arabic numeral system.

David Crotty

David Crotty

David Crotty is the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He serves on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.

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