 As most of us continue through this current quarantine as we enter day, uh, I don't remember. All the numbers just kind of start to blur together as we are inundated with just so much different data. So let's wipe the slate clean, literally, and rewind ourselves back to a time before the existence of math and numbers, see what it takes to invent this concept, explore some of the most important inventions that help build the modern world, the concept of numbers and counting, and the very first computer, depending on your definition, and calculator, the abacus. And to assist in producing them, also making one of the first forms of a machine that's been called the mother of modern machining and paved the way for the industrial revolution centuries later, lathe. Everything we use comes from 8,000 generations of collective innovation and discovery, but could an average person figure it all out themselves and work their way from the stone age to today? That's a question we're exploring. Each week I try to take that next step forward in human history. My name is Andy and this is how to make everything. Be sure to subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next step in this journey. In this series we're building ourselves up from the stone age, and now in the bronze age we're dealing with one of the biggest shifts in human history and development, the shift to cities in larger and larger populations. Problems we covered already now, from agriculture to metalsmithing, to the invention of the wheel have been tools that allow larger and larger cities of human population in larger and more complex trade routes. And as the number of items being managed or sold grow exponentially and grow beyond basic and true to math, it starts to require a more formal form of numerals and math. But before we dive into the concept of numbers, let's first build the tool I've been wanting to make since we first reinvented the wheel, which I attempted to quickly rush together before our state went into a full lockdown. The earliest evidence of the lathe is around 1300 BCE in Egypt. Early depictions show it being a two-person tool, with one person spinning the item back and forth on a cord. Slightly later versions involve the use of a bow, so since I was about to go into quarantine by myself and we still had the bow from the bow drill we made before, that's what I'm going to aim for. Trying to find plans for a small bow lathe was pretty much impossible. So using leftover materials from past projects, and while under a very tight deadline, I attempted to throw together something that might work, the most primitive lathe you'll ever see. First using some clay as molds, I cast the holders of the lathe as well as a new custom chisel. Then shaped up some blocks for the holders to sit on, then chiseled out a frame that can hold them in place. Adjustment here and there. Okay so I'm home now on quarantine, and I had to adjust things a little bit. I had to secure it a bit more with some sandbags and stuff, so it didn't make do. Getting the right amount of tension on the bow is definitely a little bit of a challenge, and then getting things tight enough so it can still spin, but not fall out. I had to add this little bar here to rest it on, otherwise it's too hard to hold stable. Trying to get the right tension on it is pretty difficult. Once you have a set it's not too bad, you just have to really crank on it. It's probably more of a two-person job, but dubby is not much help at all. It takes a bit of force to just keep it going and then apply pressure to it. I think I got it about a set up that should work. I have a specific curvature added to this chisel, and that should allow me to create consistent beads. Obviously there are easier ways to make beads such as with clay. The lathe has been an important tool that I've been wanting to incorporate ever since the invention of the wheel, and seemed like a good project to kind of try it out on. Learning how to make things spin unlocks a lot of technology such as lathe. The lathe is a very important tool. This one's pretty small and kind of limited. Similar concept can be enlarged and improved upon as we go, such as the pole lathe, which will allow a lot of use for centuries to come. So, let's see if we get this to work and make some beads. Complete my habit because let's get back to the abstract concept of inventing a numeral system. So for a more abstract concept like that, let's go into an abstract environment, which just happened to have one of those white voids in this room. So, let's go check that out. To start out, we're going to create our own numeral system. Numerals are the symbols that represent the concept of a number. Similar to when we invented our own written language, where each character represented a vocal sound or phoneme. The earliest form of representing a number of objects was tally marks, or a direct mark representing each single item. A simple and precise method, it's been used potentially for as long as 35,000 years. The downside of tally marks is that once you start dealing with large numbers, it becomes difficult to read and track. This is why the concept of clustering was often introduced, allowing you to group together blocks and numbers, making them easier to tally up. Many numeral systems evolved out of tally marks, like Roman numerals and Chinese numerals. Around 3500 BCE, the first form of modern numbers started to form, but not as abstract numbers. Instead, they would denote quantities of specific items, like sheep, tools, or containers. By 3100, numbers as independent numeral symbols would emerge. One of the first developments was the concept of a radix, or base. Similar to tally marks, it would be the concept of grouping counts together. But instead of just having a bunch of clusters, you can start grouping your clusters together as well, and continue to group groups together once they reach a certain quantity, allowing large numbers to be written a lot quicker than individual tally marks. To easily denote how much of each level of groups you have, you can arrange your numbers in what is called a positional numeral system, where each grouping has a slot, and the next position is the quantity of that grouping, and so forth. In our current system, this is designated as 1s, 10s, 100s, etc. Technically, the direction of this ordering is arbitrary, but we'll stick to right to left. While turnips of this format, such as the Roman numerals, have unique characters for each base, such as i, x, or c, for 1, 10, or 100. The first system that incorporated positional number system was the Babylonian cuneiform numerals, first appearing around 2000 BCE, where many numeral systems around the world ended up using a base of 10, likely based on the number of fingers. The first system by the Babylonians was base 60, as we believe they used both hands, where they would count the bones in each finger on one hand using their thumb, which would be three bones per finger, times four fingers, and then do that five times, keeping track on the other hand for five repetitions, leading to multiples of 60s in early math. These were standardized as a hexadecimal system, or in other words, with base 60, which is still a basis for how we count time, with 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, as well as angles, with 360 degrees in a circle, and geographic coordinates, 90 degrees north, 90 degrees south. Interestingly, in writing their 59 numerals, they themselves almost contained a base 10 counting system within it. By and large, base 10 has been the standard for many cultures around the world, with a few notable exceptions, and later developments with computers, base 2 or binary, or base 16 or hexadecimal, numerals systems like that would become more relevant. But as base 10 has been the standard for most cultures, let's stick with that for my unique numerals system that I'll be adding as a compliment to my invented written language. So now to decide on what characters we will use to designate my Rumbrain system. Thanks to my Discord, they developed a system of simple strokes with some consistent additive attributes, while staying in the base 10 system. This makes it a little easier to translate than my phonetic alphabet. What is advanced from the time period we're in, however, is having an actual character to represent zero. As with our initial tally marks, most systems of this period had no character to represent zero. The concept of zero as a number is something that rose later in history. Although the Babylonians were kind of close to understanding the concept, as they would just leave a blank in their positional numbering system, nearly every numeral system has a connection to a counting method, using your fingers, bones, or other appendages. However, that's usually only useful for small n numbers. Once you start entering magnitudes of hundreds, thousands, or millions, it becomes difficult, though technically not impossible. And that's where the abacus enters. It's basically just an advanced method of counting fingers with well-defined place values. So let's finish up my abacus and learn how to use it. Then to paint them. First using pulled-rise charcoal for a black, then red ochre dirt, and lastly some white chalk. Alright, so I was able to make a few beads using the lathe, and they turned out pretty good. One of them that didn't shatter. Very sensitive to how much pressure you apply to the actual lathe. There's also a lot of work to cring it back and forth. Switch to clay, made a bunch of little doughnuts. Oh, nuts. This is more of a Japanese style. It's almost a base five system, like a sub-base five. You just start at the bottom. So there you go. One, two, three, four, then reset for five, six, seven, eight, nine. Then reset these. So that's 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and so on and so forth. So we got ones, tens, 100s, thousands, 10,000s. So this goes up to 99,000. In addition to addition and subtraction, it's also able to do multiplication. This is one of the first mechanical aids for doing math. It might be a bit of a stretch to call it a computer, because it's not actually helping you solve anything. You're the one actually doing the calculating. This is just kind of giving you easy reference to keep track of your numbers as you go. This is a pretty crucial invention for humanity. Cultures all around the world would develop methods somewhat similar to this in one way or another. Seems pretty simple. It's basically the foundations of a lot of math. Most people might have had an experience like me where they introduced this when you're in elementary school and kind of showed it to you and then nobody really understood it and kind of moved on from there. I think now I have a little bit better understanding of it. Rarely working with huge numbers in elementary school. So the actual value of this is not as apparent. But when you're a fledgling civilization starting to deal with thousands and millions of people and things, it's necessary basically. Thanks for watching and thank you to all of our supporters on Patreon for your continued support and I'll see you guys next time. 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