26 Feb
2008
26 Feb
'08
9:01 p.m.
On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 1:32 PM, Johan Råde <rade@maths.lth.se> wrote:
The binary representation of floating point numbers is computer science, not mathematics. Numerical analysis is an interdisciplinary field, involving both mathematics and computer science.
Note that Indian mathematicians were using floating point numbers in the 14th century: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_School Binary representations would of course not be nearly as interesting until the advent of computers... but number systems (including binary) are a part of Mathematics. Some might even argue that (theoretical) Computer Science is itself a branch (or at least red-headed step-child) of Mathematics. ;-) Jon