The Number Family

The number family is large a collection of numbers, actually an infinite collection numbers.  Some numbers  are prime while the majority are composites of other numbers.  Every family has it’s negative members but they are usually offset by the positive members.  There is only one zero in the family it is neither negative or positive.  

The earliest numbers were simple whole counting numbers.  Some people call them the natural numbers but there was nothing natural about zero which didn’t come into use in Western mathematics until about 1200 AD.  Are the un-natural numbers zombie numbers, vampire numbers or invisible numbers?

The un-natural numbers are a little complicated to conceptualize. They are real numbers and can be very rational at times and irrational at other times.  Integers are whole numbers which can be positive, negative or zero.  (In QBasic we can define variables as integer numbers.)

Rational numbers are really ratio-nal numbers because they can be expressed as a ratio of integers and do not have a denominator of zero, ¼, 7/27, or 5/1.  Rational number can also be divided and expressed as decimals although some quotients result in very annoying repeating decimals which go repeating for infinity and beyond but are predictable. (In QBasic we define non-integer numeric variables as floating numbers.)

Most disturbing are the irrational numbers.  The most famous irrational number is pi or for really hungry people, pie.  Pi is a mathematical constant of the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.  The quotients of irrational numbers do not repeat but go on forever and ever like fairy tales.

The discovery of irrational numbers was not a fairy tale.  The Greek philosopher Hippasus is believed to have discovered irrational numbers in the 5^th century BC when tying to compute the square root of the number two.  Pythagoras  (yes, from the famous theorem a^2+b^2=c^2 where “^” is exponentiation in QBasic) and his Pythagorean School did not believe in irrational numbers.  Rumor has the Godfather of the Pythagorean gang was very upset with Hippasus who ended up sleeping with the fishes. 

There is a conspiracy theory Hippasus was drowned in the ocean for revealing the existence of irrational numbers.  When programming in computers, keep your mind open for all possibilities. Some people believe Humpty Dumpty did not fall off the wall, he was pushed.  

“The Godfather - Luca Brasi Sleeps with the Fishes” - Posted by TheFilmSpectrum.

“Humpty dumpty was pushed” – Posted by FAproduckshins