AGBell – ENGT by Andrew G. Bell (260) Module 3 Global Perspective – Numbers

AGBell – ENGT Engineering Concepts in Technology Numbers – Where would we be today without the number system? Numbers allow us to communicate with one another. In the movie Contact the main character, Jodie Foster, was describing how to decipher a radio transmissions for the star Vega. She said “Mathematics is the only true universal language”. Is that true for us here on earth as well?Contact At one time we used different number systems based on how we developed as a culture. A chief turning point in western civilization was when an Italian mathematician, Fibonacci, learned about the Hindu-Arabic number system. “Few people realize that it was Fibonacci that gave us our decimal number system (Hindu-Arabic numbering system) which replaced the Roman Numeral system. 1 ” 1 “Fibonacci traveled with him [his father] as a young boy, and it was in Bugia that he learned about the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. 2 ” 2 Fibonacci changed how we do mathematics by learning how others do it. He had a “global perspective” …

AGBell – ENGT Engineering Concepts in Technology Team Assignment – Using Roman numerals add and multiply two numbers together. For Example add VII to III and multiple XVII by III. You can use Microsoft Excel to explore how this math can be done using the new Roman and Arabic functions. Instructor resource – see that attached spreadsheet to see how these calculations can be done using Microsoft Excel 2013.spreadsheet Individual Assignment – Read the book “Against the Gods” by Peter L. Bernstein and write a book report.