“There exists among the most primitive tribes of Australia and Africa a system of numeration which has neither 5, 10, nor 20 for base. It is a binary system, i. e., of base two. These savages have not yet reached finger counting. They have independent numbers for one and two, and composite numbers up to six. Beyond six everything is denoted by “heap.””

—  Tobias Dantzig

Number: The Language of Science (1930)

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Tobias Dantzig25
American mathematician 1884–1956

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