Expert: John Shea - 8/27/2009

Question
Not to be hideously random but I thought this might be something for someone in your field: Do you think that if humans had developed with, for instance, 4 fingers per hand that number systems would have been base 8 instead of base 10 or, alternately, do you think the development of numbering systems was done independently of anatomical influence?

Answer
Hi Paul
This is pure speculation, rather than an answer.
I don't think it would have made a difference (i.e., no connection between anatomy and numbering systems).  Why?  Well, there are cultures that use mathematical systems with different bases than 10. (I don't know which ones, specifically, but I bet you can find them in any general reference on mathematics.)  Clearly, having 10 toes and 10 fingers didn't constrain these societies in their development of mathematical systems.  That the base 10 system we use is so popular is probably an historically-contingent event. If, say, Mesopotamians or the Ancient Maya had developed into a global civilization (rather than Europe), we would probably be using their mathematical systems, which worked reasonably well for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Cheers,
John Shea