Polynesian people used binary numbers in calculations 600 years ago

The binary number system is the basis of digital machines, for instance, the basis of computers. The development of the binary system is linked to the work of the German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz in the 18th century. However, a report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science(http://www.nature.com/news/polynesian- people-used-binary-numbers-600-years-ago-1.14380) suggests that Polynesian people living on Mangareva Island in the Pacific Ocean already used it three hundred years earlier.

Analysing the Mangarevan language and culture, researchers arrived at surprising findings. Results suggest that the use of the binary system may come about spontaneously in a society without advanced science and technology.

Pure binary arithmetic works in base 2 while most cultures adopted base 10 in everyday calculations. Every number can be expressed in binary by using 1s and 0s, which can be represented in computers by electrical pulses being switched on and off.

A lot fewer rules need to be memorised when using the binary number system. However, large numbers can only be represented by a lot of digits. Psychologists Andrea Bender and Sieghard Beller of the University of Bergen in Norway say they have come across the solution to the problem while studying the Mangarevan culture.

People who lived on the island combined base-10 representation with a binary system. They had words for one to ten, and then for 10 multiplied by several powers of 2 . For instance, the word takau (denoted as K) means 10; paua (P) = 20, tataua (T) = 40, and varu (V) means 80. On the basis of this 70 is TPK (40+20+10) and 57 is TK7 (40+10+7).

Although this system has some drawbacks, advantages outweigh disadvantages according to the authors. The two psychologist are of the opinion that the creation of mixed systems is not easy, and add that ?It?s puzzling that anybody would come up with such a solution, especially on a tiny island with a small population.”