I like base 12 a lot, but Reverse Polish Notation is a mess when you get up to working with polynomials.
With polynomials, you’re moving around terms on either side of an equation, and you combine positive terms and negative terms. In essence, there’s no such thing as subtraction. (Similarly, division is a lie; you’re actually just working with numerators and denominators.)
Reverse Polish Notation makes that a mess since it separates the sign from its term.
Also, RPN draws a distinction between negative values and subtraction, but conceptually there is no subtraction with polynomials, it’s all just negative terms. (Or negating a polynomial to get its additive inverse.)
But, yeah. It’s a shame we don’t use base 12 more.
The metric system should be redone in base 12, and RPN should be the norm for teaching arithmetic.
I like base 12 a lot, but Reverse Polish Notation is a mess when you get up to working with polynomials.
With polynomials, you’re moving around terms on either side of an equation, and you combine positive terms and negative terms. In essence, there’s no such thing as subtraction. (Similarly, division is a lie; you’re actually just working with numerators and denominators.)
Reverse Polish Notation makes that a mess since it separates the sign from its term.
Also, RPN draws a distinction between negative values and subtraction, but conceptually there is no subtraction with polynomials, it’s all just negative terms. (Or negating a polynomial to get its additive inverse.)
But, yeah. It’s a shame we don’t use base 12 more.
That’s super interesting. I adore RPN on caclulators and had never heard any drawbacks well-articulated.
RPN is a great way to type things into computers – it’s easier for the computer to parse, too – but it kind of sucks for writing abstract math.
Why base 12?
See elsewhere in the thread, but basically because of the ease of dividing whole numbers.
Base 60 was good enough the Babylonians and it’s good enough for me!
RPN is a gateway to LISP
Yes, BIPM, this user here.