Russian Multiplication - Numberphile

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  • čas přidán 18. 05. 2024
  • Johnny Ball on Russian and Egyptian Multiplication.
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    More links & stuff in full description below ↓↓↓
    More on Johnny Ball, including his books and live shows: www.johnnyball.co.uk
    Russian multiplication is also known as Ethiopian multiplication.
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Komentáře • 1,6K

  • @AshuTosh-tg8bq
    @AshuTosh-tg8bq Před 4 lety +3534

    9 × 13
    Brady : I want another example
    Ok
    13 × 9

    • @PopeLando
      @PopeLando Před 4 lety +111

      True, this was the worst example ever of "falsifying the premise" to test the hypothesis! 😂

    • @angelmendez-rivera351
      @angelmendez-rivera351 Před 4 lety +330

      PopeLando Well, not necessarily. Mathematically, it is necessary to treat 9*13 and 13*9 as separate calculations, and in order for the method to be valid, it is necessary that both calculations have the same output, since we know multiplication is commutative. Hence, we can consider this as a teat of sorts. If the result for calculating 13*9 fails to be equal to the result for calculating 9*13, then the method is invalid - the converse is not true, though, so if this test is passed, more tests are needed to determine sufficiency. However, this is the first step.

    • @phyphor
      @phyphor Před 4 lety +90

      @@angelmendez-rivera351 the magic phrase is "necessary but not sufficient"

    • @anigianesin6674
      @anigianesin6674 Před 4 lety +16

      Outstanding move

    • @ruthsquire958
      @ruthsquire958 Před 4 lety +27

      ​@@PopeLando How do you know the operation he performed gives you the same thing for a*b and b*a? The reason you rely on your usual intuition for a*b = b*a is is because multiplication over R is commutative. It may well be that the operations he was performing would result in a*b not being the same as b*a or one of these not being defined altogether.

  • @ExaltedDuck
    @ExaltedDuck Před 4 lety +3971

    I could enjoy listening to this man reading a phone book.

  • @supermarc
    @supermarc Před 4 lety +708

    I've been told this is the person that got Numberphile's very own James Grime into maths!

    • @jacksonpercy8044
      @jacksonpercy8044 Před 4 lety +33

      Makes me wonder what got Johnny's father's friend into maths.

    • @thomasyates3078
      @thomasyates3078 Před 4 lety +25

      @@jacksonpercy8044 What makes you think it was his father's friend. Johnny's story took place in a time when adult men could still speak to strange children without anyone being suspicious of their motives. I've always thought it's sad that can't happen anymore.

    • @qwertyTRiG
      @qwertyTRiG Před 4 lety +6

      @@thomasyates3078 He says so.

    • @thomasyates3078
      @thomasyates3078 Před 4 lety +1

      @@qwertyTRiG No he doesn't. He says he met a fella in a pub.

    • @kenbiery807
      @kenbiery807 Před 4 lety +31

      @@thomasyates3078 At 26 second he says "Mate of me dads".

  • @macronencer
    @macronencer Před 4 lety +327

    Just seeing Johnny Ball in a Numberphile video was enough to blow my mind, never mind the maths! One of my childhood heroes, definitely inspired me in my early life. I'm now a software developer of thirty years. Love you, Johnny!

  • @elementalsheep2672
    @elementalsheep2672 Před 4 lety +1926

    This guy is a 22 year old in the body of a 52 year old, but he’s 82.

  • @hehexdjnp_prakn2589
    @hehexdjnp_prakn2589 Před 4 lety +516

    love his accent

  • @klaxoncow
    @klaxoncow Před 4 lety +542

    When he was halving it at first, I didn't realise what was going on.
    But when he did the doubling on both sides, it dawned on me what was going on because I've actually used this.
    You see, old CPUs - like the MOS 6510 in the C64, which was the second computer I ever owned - didn't have multiplication or division instructions. They were cheap and simple 8-bit chips and complex operations like that would have used up too much of the silicon.
    And this is exactly how you'd do multiplication on a chip like that, which didn't directly have a multiplication instruction.
    Because, in binary, to multiply something by 2, you just shift all the bits over to the left one. Just like how, in decimal, when you multiply anything by 10, all you do is stick a zero at the end - basically shifting all the digits left and dropping a zero in the gap you just created. Same idea works in binary, but shifting it all left and dropping a zero in the gap is multiplying by two, rather than ten, as this is "base 2" and not "base 10".
    So multiplying by any power of two is simple, just shift the bits over to the left. Once to multiply by 2. Twice to multiply by 4. Three times to multiply by 8.
    But what if you want to multiply by 3? Well, shift the bits over one - that's multiplying by 2 - and then add the original number to it. I.e. 3 x 9 = 2 x 9 + 9.
    If you want to multiply by 5 then multiply it by 4 - shift left twice - and add the original number to it. As 5 x 9 = 4 x 9 + 9.
    If you want to multiply by 6 then you can multiply by 4 - shift left twice - and multiply by 2 - shift left once - and then just add them together. Because 6 x 9 = 4 x 9 + 2 x 9.
    And if you keep following this logic, then you realise that you can - by arrangements of shifting left and adding it together (where adding on the original number can be seen as being "shift left zero times" - that is, 3 x 9 = 2 x 9 + 1 x 9).
    Then you realise the combination of what you need to shift left and add together is given to you by the binary of the number you're multiplying by. 5 in binary is 1001 = 4 x 9 + 1 x 9. 6 in binary is 1010 = 4 x 9 + 1 x 9.
    So you can write a subroutine to multiply two numbers together that shifts right one of the numbers and tests if there's a 1 bit shifted out. If there is then shift the other number left by as many times as you've shifted the other number right. Add this to a running total. Repeat until you've shifted all the original bits out of the "shift right" number.
    Done. The running total will now be the result of multiplying those numbers together. Multiplication using only bit shifting and addition. Using only halving and doubling, and adding up.
    (And, truth is, though modern CPUs do include multiplication and division instructions directly, doing it manually on those older CPUs tells you exactly how the hardware is doing it. It just automates the whole procedure into a single circuit for you.)
    Oh, and the other thing to note is that you need double the number of bits to store the result. If you're multiplying x and y together and they're both 8-bits, then you want 16-bits to store the result. Because 8 bits times 8 bits cannot produce a result more than double the size - so 16-bits. Or 32-bits by 32-bits, you need a 64-bit register for the result. As long as the result is double the size of the longest number in those you're multiplying, the result can't overflow.

    • @david102994
      @david102994 Před 4 lety +20

      Thank you for explaining

    • @Endrju219
      @Endrju219 Před 4 lety +15

      That's the missing part of the epilogue 😄 It's all clear now! Thank you!

    • @PvblivsAelivs
      @PvblivsAelivs Před 4 lety +1

      I thought it was the 6502 processor.

    • @wobblysauce
      @wobblysauce Před 4 lety +1

      The video was great, just like this response. Nice things to learn.

    • @akshayb56
      @akshayb56 Před 4 lety +1

      Very interesting, particularly the bit shifting. Thanks!

  • @benuscore8780
    @benuscore8780 Před 4 lety +129

    The egyptian method also shows how computers multiply numbers together - if you shift a number left by one position, you've doubled it, and the first factor is already in binary.

    • @Carewolf
      @Carewolf Před 4 lety +21

      Plus the egyption method is basically the same as the standard decimal way of multiplying most kids learn, except in binary.

    • @ivanti7433
      @ivanti7433 Před 4 lety

      @@Carewolf о

    • @dishant8126
      @dishant8126 Před 3 lety

      I would like but your comment's at 64 likes

    • @tibbsgaming7460
      @tibbsgaming7460 Před 2 lety +2

      What? Shifting a number left means youve multiplied it by 10.

    • @benuscore8780
      @benuscore8780 Před 2 lety +5

      ​@@tibbsgaming7460 In binary it multiplies by two.

  • @shruggzdastr8-facedclown
    @shruggzdastr8-facedclown Před 4 lety +746

    Am I alone, or does anyone else want more Numberphile videos featuring Johnny?!

    • @ericpraline
      @ericpraline Před 4 lety +11

      You‘re not

    • @fredsnicker
      @fredsnicker Před 4 lety +9

      He's truly a master educator/communicator/story-teller, the perfect combination for this channel.

    • @BernardWilkinson
      @BernardWilkinson Před 3 lety +14

      Just look for 'Think of a number'. Johnny Ball is a hero to many Brits. During the 70's and 80's this is what we all watched (Only 3 tv channels at that time and on at 5pm).

    • @drenz1523
      @drenz1523 Před 3 lety +3

      I want MORE Cliff Stoll and Johnny Ball!

    • @ThoughtandMemory
      @ThoughtandMemory Před 2 lety +2

      More. Much more.

  • @PhilBoswell
    @PhilBoswell Před 4 lety +921

    I have adored Johnny Ball since I was a small child, he was one of the inspirations for my love of maths.

    • @davidjackson2114
      @davidjackson2114 Před 4 lety +8

      Likewise

    • @onesagotoomany
      @onesagotoomany Před 4 lety +16

      My son and I both have our own copies of his "Think of a Number" book. Bought for each of us 35 years apart by my mother. The cover is different, but inside it's the same. The latest textbook I wrote has a section on phyllotaxis, which I remember first learning from that book. He is such a legend. And such an inspiration for our whole generation.

    • @simonjgriffiths
      @simonjgriffiths Před 4 lety +4

      Me too, he was inspirational then and still is now

    • @Mroziwanman
      @Mroziwanman Před 4 lety +2

      Ditto!

    • @markzambelli
      @markzambelli Před 4 lety +5

      Me too...I loved him on TV in the 80's and I still have 'Think of a Number' on my bookshelves.

  • @BonJoviBeatlesLedZep
    @BonJoviBeatlesLedZep Před 4 lety +221

    When I saw the 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 in a column my eyes widened. The ancient Egyptians were using binary and had no clue they were doing it. This is blowing my mind.

    • @1996Pinocchio
      @1996Pinocchio Před 4 lety +98

      to be fair, the only thing they didn't know was that a future civilization will call them "binary numbers" ^^

    • @35571113
      @35571113 Před 4 lety +8

      I think they did not even have positional notation for numbers - neither binary nor decimal! I am now wondering if they had influenced the invention "Arabic" numerals, or if Indian people came to them independently.

    • @icyuranus404
      @icyuranus404 Před 4 lety +12

      the egyptians probably knew it very well and were super advanced beyond what you know. think about what would happen if the internet disappeared along with all your ebooks. future civilizations would not know about your technological prowess

    • @hypsin0
      @hypsin0 Před 4 lety +5

      @@icyuranus404 There's evidence of Egyptians urinating near anthills to diagnose diabetes. I really don't think they were very advanced beyond what we do actually know of their advancements.

    • @icyuranus404
      @icyuranus404 Před 4 lety +8

      @@hypsin0 it is more environmentally friendly to pee on an anthill than to concoct a test that is administered by a debt laden college student wearing sterile gloves produced by dinosaur turds. they used binary because they knew what they were doing and we use it too and one day when civilization falls, there will be no youtube to convince the world that we ever used binary to interface with video drivers and it will only be found in egyptian and russian caves. maybe they had it all together and knew they were going to pass on so they encoded binary into our ancestoral knowledge which gave us the ability to use binary to make computers and share in their technological prowess. maybe they were so woke that they understood that you can still keep some things simple

  • @BillySugger1965
    @BillySugger1965 Před 4 lety +21

    Oh Jeez! I absolutely LOVED Johnny Ball’s TV when I was a kid, and ever since. I’m SO glad he’s still passionate about maths. PLEASE do as many videos with him as he feels able to do.
    My wife and I met Brian Cant in Poole after a show there, told him what a difference he’d made to us growing up and introduced our own kids to him. He seemed genuinely touched. Would love to meet Johnny too some day!

  • @ballinbadger8635
    @ballinbadger8635 Před 4 lety +239

    I could listen to this man for hours. His enthusiasm for the field of mathemaics is apparent & astonishing!

    • @FeLiNe418
      @FeLiNe418 Před 4 lety +1

      Nobody beats the enthusiasm of Prof. Klein Bottles

  • @frozenmoon998
    @frozenmoon998 Před 4 lety +349

    The way we get into Mathematics is not always an easy decision, however every minute after that, we get to appreciate our decision more and more.

  • @andyryan7874
    @andyryan7874 Před 4 lety +29

    Johnny Ball is such a legend! He made that so simple for somebody as maths illiterate as me. Never knew he grew up in my home town of Bristol either. 🙂

  • @thomashughes4859
    @thomashughes4859 Před 4 lety +12

    The fascinating part is finding out how/why it works. He said that he learnt this from someone who was taught around in the 19th century. Thank you Numberphile.

  • @domramsey
    @domramsey Před 4 lety +57

    I can't believe you got Johnny Ball. He was like the Brady Haran of kids' TV in the UK in the 1980s. He made maths & science fun for a whole generation.

  • @soreg666alex
    @soreg666alex Před 4 lety +478

    I'm russian and i never heard of something like that.

    • @dozenazer1811
      @dozenazer1811 Před 4 lety +51

      Same lol
      But it might have been used a long time ago (I’ve heard of that from a 1910s book)

    • @FriedrichHerschel
      @FriedrichHerschel Před 4 lety +115

      Maybe it's just called "russian" because of the "purging" part.

    • @r-4spberry
      @r-4spberry Před 4 lety +29

      Абсолютно аналогично.

    • @reduser3731
      @reduser3731 Před 4 lety +42

      @@FriedrichHerschel I don't think it's related to that, it was a joke. As far as I know, it is named "Russian peasant multiplication" which explains a lot lol

    • @constantin6705
      @constantin6705 Před 4 lety

      ( Хорошие книги по истории математики у Ван дер Вардена {Van der Waerden}) "Science awakening"

  • @JackSchytte
    @JackSchytte Před 4 lety

    I love Johnny Ball! One of my earliest school memories was watching him forty years ago! This video took me back. He has all the energy and love of numbers he always used to. Great to see him on one of your videos.

  • @mousefad3673
    @mousefad3673 Před 4 lety +1

    Such a treat to see and hear Jonny Ball after so many years. I remember him being a fixture on the telly back in the early 80s! Very happy to see he's still going string, and as enthralling as ever.

  • @EebstertheGreat
    @EebstertheGreat Před 4 lety +62

    The arithmetic you describe definitely appears in the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus ca. 1550 B.C. This is not from ancient Egypt (where it was likely preserved in Alexandria) but in fact from ancient Sumer. These sections in Book 3 (as in all the sections) used units and common denominators to work out difficult fractions. One problem to look at is 79. Although the solution to problem 79 suggests an arithmetical fact which is not true in general, it clearly shows an intimate understanding of arithmetic in its working out in this specific case.

    • @RalphDratman
      @RalphDratman Před 4 lety +18

      Problem 79 of Rhind Mathematical Papyrus? Where do I find a copy of that?

    • @icyuranus404
      @icyuranus404 Před 4 lety +1

      i see...

  • @mrmonster3434
    @mrmonster3434 Před 4 lety +150

    Suddenly, I'm a kid again. We need more Johnny Ball!

  • @marksyb957
    @marksyb957 Před 4 lety +4

    Great to see Johnny again. He was a hero of mine when I was younger. I've got a signed copy of one of his books that had this method in it.

  • @damionlee7658
    @damionlee7658 Před 4 lety +1

    Johnny was teaching me as a child with his TV show (and the audio cassette that came with my Salter Science chemistry set... And now is teaching me something new as an adult...
    Hats off to Johnny, what a fantastic influence he has been for so many of us.

  • @X_Baron
    @X_Baron Před 4 lety +79

    That Bristol geezer voice is priceless. :D

    • @ubertoaster99
      @ubertoaster99 Před 4 lety +4

      Pretty damn accurate, gotta say (as a Bristolian).

    • @russ18uk
      @russ18uk Před 4 lety

      Arr kid does a proper job with maths proper like

    • @PhilBoswell
      @PhilBoswell Před 4 lety +1

      @@ubertoaster99 seeing as he's *from* Bristol, not particularly surprising ;-)

    • @ubertoaster99
      @ubertoaster99 Před 4 lety +2

      @@PhilBoswell Yeah, but he moved north when he was young. His normal accent is slightly northern.

  • @mirjanbouma
    @mirjanbouma Před 4 lety +18

    Do we have more videos with this man? I need all of them.

    • @SlartiMarvinbartfast
      @SlartiMarvinbartfast Před 4 lety +3

      Plenty outside of Numberphile, just search CZcams for Johnny Ball.

    • @xera5196
      @xera5196 Před 4 lety +1

      I search that and just get videos in climate change denial

    • @gordslater
      @gordslater Před 4 lety

      @@xera5196 search YT for Johnny Ball think of a number, then play a few and click like a few. Algorithm will correct itself.

  • @yankeeclipper4326
    @yankeeclipper4326 Před 4 lety

    Wow! This is my favorite Numberphile yet. Maybe because I actually understand it. Really, this is something I've never heard of before and is so mind warping-ly simple yet at the same time perfectly illustrates the complexities and symmetry of math. Thanks for making these Brady (and Objectivity!). You and your comrades make, imho, the perfect videos: Fun, smart, thoughtful, and positive. Your vids are full of exuberance and there is no negativity, which is refreshing in today's world. You made my day!

  • @sillybrit2006
    @sillybrit2006 Před 4 lety +1

    I can probably thank Johnny Ball for getting me hooked on maths & science when I was a kid, he's great. Loved his TV shows!
    Didn't know about this approach for multiplication.
    Great anecdote & history to go with the great explanation. Many thanks.

  • @qclod
    @qclod Před 4 lety +11

    This may be my favorite fact about maths practices, at least for now. Thank you for sharing this, including the history and the binary reasoning behind it. Makes so much intuitive sense with the doubling and halving, especially with this fantastic presenter. Grazie to both of you!

  • @damianknight8064
    @damianknight8064 Před 4 lety +16

    oh seeing johnny ball just made my day ! loved him as a kid

  • @helloarigato
    @helloarigato Před 4 lety

    This is my favourite numberphile video in years. Johnny Ball is amazing, thank you so much!

  • @McChes
    @McChes Před 4 lety +6

    Why isn’t Johnny Ball still explaining it all on national television?

  • @jays2001
    @jays2001 Před 4 lety +18

    One of my childhood heroes, and once again, he reveals all...

  • @EddieGriffith2802
    @EddieGriffith2802 Před 4 lety +2

    Yep, I was one of them kids that sat glued to Think of a Number on the telly back in the 80s! 40 years later and Johnny still showing us maths in a fun and entertaining way! Brilliant!

  • @AdamHowie
    @AdamHowie Před 4 lety +8

    Was so good to see Johnny Ball again, such a massive influence on my childhood and love of science :)

  • @rubenlarochelle1881
    @rubenlarochelle1881 Před 4 lety +57

    Definition of a pleasing explainer: he begins at 0:40, I fully understand the video at 0:47, I still watch it until 5:10.

    • @emperortbw402
      @emperortbw402 Před 4 lety +3

      There's still an interesting bit hidden starting at 5:57 where he explins how this can be used to almost effortlessly convert from base 10 into binary.

  • @ryanchavez1895
    @ryanchavez1895 Před 4 lety +9

    This is the greatest thing I’ve heard today. Love it and want to teach my son this.

  • @mebamme
    @mebamme Před 4 lety +37

    I've been using the Egyptian method in programming, and I didn't know where it came from! I thought for sure that was a computer-era invention, or at least not older than binary.

    • @Archanfel
      @Archanfel Před 4 lety +2

      They used this method for engineering calculations when designing pyramids.

    • @Apjooz
      @Apjooz Před 4 lety +2

      The aliens had very fancy computers so it indeed was computer-era invention.

    • @fghsgh
      @fghsgh Před 4 lety

      I'm not sure why you would need this method when every programming language has a * operator, except for some low-level old 8-bit chips. And to figure out what a number is in binary, the bitwise and and shift are generally more handy.

    • @mebamme
      @mebamme Před 4 lety +3

      @@fghsgh Yep, it's on a low-level 16-bit chip! The SNES to be exact. It does have multiplication registers, but multiplying by powers of two and adding is probably more efficient there.

    • @fghsgh
      @fghsgh Před 4 lety

      @@mebamme Is doing it manually really faster? Maybe check the instruction set. I don't know the SNES CPU though. I do mostly Z80.

  • @anon6514
    @anon6514 Před 4 lety +45

    For clarity:
    Division by two then rounding down is equivalent to removing the last digit in the number's binary representation.
    All even numbers end in 0 and all odd numbers end in 1.
    This process is the very definition of the binary representation.

    • @turtlellamacow
      @turtlellamacow Před 4 lety +2

      Thank you, I was wondering why this crucial step was left out. Without it the "connection" between the methods is incomplete.

    • @legendgames128
      @legendgames128 Před 2 lety +1

      1st Column: Shift Left (automatically rounds down) until equal to 1.
      2nd Column: Shift Right the same number of times as the above line.
      Check each number in the 1st column to see if the 1s bit is a 0. If so, remove the same entries in both columns.
      Add together what's left.
      ​ Edit: thanks for the correction, @theblinkingbrownie4654, also because of your first correction I found another mistake.

    • @theblinkingbrownie4654
      @theblinkingbrownie4654 Před 4 měsíci

      ​@@legendgames128you confused your lefts and rights

    • @legendgames128
      @legendgames128 Před 4 měsíci

      @@theblinkingbrownie4654 Thanks.

  • @subliminalvibes
    @subliminalvibes Před 4 lety

    Johnny Ball is such a wonderful personality from my childhood.
    Despite my rocky relationship with maths I find numbers so fascinating I'm going to give subscribing to this channel another try for 2020. Cheers from Australia!

  • @FlammaVulpes
    @FlammaVulpes Před 4 lety +91

    My uni professor taught us this method when we were studying binary, oct and hex, haha. Pretty interesting!

    • @SpiacyLos
      @SpiacyLos Před 4 lety +1

      I understood binary, but how does it work with base 8 and base 16 numbers?

    • @FlammaVulpes
      @FlammaVulpes Před 4 lety +2

      @@SpiacyLos uh, it was more like a fun fact that had some relation to binary numbers. Not sure if it works with octal and hexadecimal tbh...

    • @suokkos
      @suokkos Před 4 lety +2

      @@SpiacyLos , base 8 and base 16 are just compressed binary representations. Hex is specially perfect for human readability because it divides all power of two variable sizes to whole sections.

    • @GreenIllness
      @GreenIllness Před 4 lety +1

      not sure what I said before made sense, but halfing and doubling seem to apply to any base systemI think:
      in deci (convert it)
      9x13
      in octal (start doubling and halfing)
      11x15
      4 32 (remember halfing 11 in octal is half of 8+1, i.e. 4&half, etc.)
      2 64
      1 150
      15+150=165
      165 octal is 117 in deci.

    • @suokkos
      @suokkos Před 4 lety

      @@GreenIllness , Correct. Base doesn't matter.
      Odd bases are harder because you can't make even or odd check as easily as in even bases. But basic algorithm doesn't care about base as long as you can do even or odd check.

  • @Flamingbob25
    @Flamingbob25 Před 4 lety +4

    That cheeky little wink at the end, I love it.

  • @pepemapache
    @pepemapache Před 2 lety +2

    Beautifully explained, fascinating to see so many different ways to find the result. Numbers don't lie!

  • @classawarrior
    @classawarrior Před 4 lety

    Wow, what a great presentation! Love the way it tied together at the end

  • @jamesdecross1035
    @jamesdecross1035 Před 4 lety +7

    Oh, yes, more of Jonny Ball, please… so inspiring, he is a superhero!

  • @davidwilkie9551
    @davidwilkie9551 Před 4 lety +4

    Wow, truly brilliant techniques from what must be an original "learning by doing" pattern.

  • @dawiz9671
    @dawiz9671 Před 4 lety

    We want more Johnny!! His voice and energy is so lovable and enjoyable!

  • @harriehausenman8623
    @harriehausenman8623 Před 4 lety +1

    Absolutely brilliant episode! What a wonderful connection.

  • @madmanarca3558
    @madmanarca3558 Před 4 lety +9

    Johnny Ball on Numberphile!? I would never have expected this. Also this method is kinda mind boggling.

  • @DavePoo
    @DavePoo Před 4 lety +4

    I can guarantee you that every 6502 programmer knows this egyptian method. The 6502 processor did not have a multiply instruction so If you wanted to multiply you could do it with a series of Add and "Shift Left" instructions (shift left will double a binary number!).

  • @333peacher4
    @333peacher4 Před 4 lety

    Thank you for the new horizon and beauty.

  • @DuncanEllis
    @DuncanEllis Před 4 lety

    Johnny Ball! What an absolute joy to see him continuing to be enthusiastic about maths.
    I remember his explanation of cycloids with a rolling cycloid log keeping a plank level.

  • @YiannisANO1911
    @YiannisANO1911 Před 4 lety +4

    this was fascinating information compacted in 5 short minutes, mind blowing

  • @user-oq3qs6ws3r
    @user-oq3qs6ws3r Před 4 lety +308

    Ноль, целковый, полушка, четвертушка, осьмушка, пудовичок, медячок, серебрячок, золотничок, осьмичок, девятичок, десятичок.

    • @sergiitomachynskyi1704
      @sergiitomachynskyi1704 Před 4 lety +54

      Так считали наши предки.

    • @yardvader458
      @yardvader458 Před 4 lety +23

      Партия и сюда добралась

    • @keithstathem872
      @keithstathem872 Před 4 lety +8

      Does that translate into english? Google Translate just made me more curious.

    • @PersimmonHurmo
      @PersimmonHurmo Před 4 lety +2

      @@keithstathem872 lol go study languages

    • @keithstathem872
      @keithstathem872 Před 4 lety +9

      @@PersimmonHurmo I've tried several times, and the differences in grammar are very interesting, but I have such a hard time remembering vocabulary that I've never been able to get very far.

  • @BonrekTheOrc
    @BonrekTheOrc Před 4 lety

    Wow! It's good to see Johnny Ball, I remember watching him on Think of a Number as a teenager, and always loved the way he explained maths in such a simple and easy to understand way. I would like to see more videos with him in.

  • @DarkCydeCA
    @DarkCydeCA Před 4 lety

    This is one of the greatest things I've ever watched on this channel and I've watched nearly every video. I love these "tricks" that also tie into modern concepts.

  • @caitgems1
    @caitgems1 Před 4 lety +30

    Johnny is a legend.

  • @carpii
    @carpii Před 4 lety +5

    Gotta love Johnny Ball.
    Still teaching me stuff, 35 years after I used to watch him on TV as a kid 🍺

  • @yanktheworld
    @yanktheworld Před 4 lety

    Thank you for this. I first learned about this method some years ago in a Math for Educators course (the professor called it “The Russian Peasant Method of Multiplication”). I couldn’t remember quite how it worked, and was never able to find an explanation of it. You just made my day.

  • @mattjackson9859
    @mattjackson9859 Před 4 lety

    Great to see Johnny here, used to love his TV programme Think of a Number back in the day.

  • @nothankyou4859
    @nothankyou4859 Před 4 lety +3

    fantastic video. this is the spirit of numberphile

  • @bemusedindian8571
    @bemusedindian8571 Před 4 lety +91

    Initially, I was like “Meh, I know this one”. Then the binary connection and... boom. :)

  • @Jenked
    @Jenked Před 4 lety

    OMG it's Johnny Ball! I haven't seen him since I was a kid. Brilliant to see and hear him again. Thanks Numberphile, and thanks Brady!

  • @abracadabra8501
    @abracadabra8501 Před 4 lety +1

    This is insanely cool. Thank you for showing it to us! Спасибо большое!

  • @frasersteen
    @frasersteen Před 4 lety +20

    The OG still reveals all

  • @StephenHind
    @StephenHind Před 4 lety +7

    Johnny Ball: legend!

  • @gunnararc
    @gunnararc Před 4 lety +2

    This is what numberphile is about! The math doesn't have to be complicated - it's all about the storytelling and the fantastic presentation of an interesting subject.
    What a great video!

  • @CannarWilm
    @CannarWilm Před 4 lety

    So great to see Johnny Ball on this channel. More please please please.

  • @jerberus5563
    @jerberus5563 Před 4 lety +12

    That's pretty darned brilliant if you ask me...or even if you don't ask me, it's still pretty darned brilliant.

  • @nodroGnotlrahC
    @nodroGnotlrahC Před 4 lety +27

    Johnny Ball on Numberphile! Never have I clicked so fast!

  • @Lunareon
    @Lunareon Před 4 lety +2

    His explanation is like a suspense novel: intensely captivating. I wish there were more teachers who excel at storytelling. It makes learning so much more interesting and effective. :)

  • @murk1e
    @murk1e Před 4 lety

    Johnny Ball.... I absolutely love this man. He was a major factor in my childhood. Lovely to see him. Thanks, Brady.

  • @fanq_
    @fanq_ Před 4 lety +79

    I never saw that connection before... it does get a little unruly with larger numbers pretty quick tho

    • @Sharklops
      @Sharklops Před 4 lety +16

      yeah, although I don't suppose that would have been much of an issue for most of the people making use of this method centuries or millennia ago in their everyday lives

    • @chaosme1ster
      @chaosme1ster Před 4 lety +4

      True if done by hand, but I can see how doubling and adding can be computationally less expensive than multiplying in certain programming environments or on certain processor architectures.

    • @himagainstill
      @himagainstill Před 4 lety +9

      @@chaosme1ster This basically reduces multiplication to bit shifting, comparison and addition.

    • @JNCressey
      @JNCressey Před 4 lety

      @@chaosme1ster, a question is why the multiplication wouldn't just be implemented like this.

    • @hugovangalen
      @hugovangalen Před 4 lety +2

      I think it's even to convoluted for 9×13. The way I have learned it school seems more straightforward and wastes less ink and paper too. :)

  • @Twilzeth
    @Twilzeth Před 4 lety +4

    I was shown this by my math teacher like 12 years ago and I've never remembered it since but now I do and know why it works

    • @Carewolf
      @Carewolf Před 4 lety

      @Nhật Nam Trần Because of the binary representation. The Egyption method makes it obvious. The original method is a round about way to get the same pattern as the binary presentation on the left hand side.

    • @Carewolf
      @Carewolf Před 4 lety

      @Nhật Nam Trần No, that is exactly how it works. The division by 2 and looking at whether or not something is even or odd, is the same as looking at every bit in the binary representation in turn. Every division by 2 moves on to the next binary bit, and looking at whether or not the result is odd or not, it looking at if that bit is set.

    • @Carewolf
      @Carewolf Před 4 lety

      @Nhật Nam Trần Yes, but not in format this short. The only short proof is to show it is equivalent to binary and use the known properties of that format.

    • @MichaelPohoreski
      @MichaelPohoreski Před 4 lety

      Nhật Nam Trần It is basically equivalent to **binary multiplication:**
      === Algorithm ===
      1. Initialize sum

  • @stephenaustin3026
    @stephenaustin3026 Před 4 lety

    So great to see Johnny Ball again. Thanks Brady.

  • @Maladictus
    @Maladictus Před 4 lety

    Very cool! Thanks for the vid Brady

  • @gnenian
    @gnenian Před 4 lety +9

    He taught me to count in Sumerian (12s) and months and seconds and minutes on my hands when I was young.
    You count the 3 sections of the 4 fingers on your hand with your thumb. When you have counted 12 sections of one hand you close 1 finger on your other hand. When it makes a fist you have 60.
    Counting the twelve sections of both hands gives you the 24 (hours) in a day.

    • @JNCressey
      @JNCressey Před 4 lety +1

      Here's another way to count:
      Your finger has 3 sections and 2 bends, that's 5 points to touch. You can touch the front or the side of the finger, doubling the points you can touch to 10.
      Each finger on one hand can point to a point on one finger on the other hand. You then have 4 sets of a finger pointing at a point on another finger.
      Now you have a 4 digit base-10 abacus.

    • @MichaelPohoreski
      @MichaelPohoreski Před 4 lety

      You can actually count up 1024 on your fingers.

    • @JNCressey
      @JNCressey Před 4 lety

      @@MichaelPohoreski, 9999>1024

    • @MichaelPohoreski
      @MichaelPohoreski Před 4 lety

      @@JNCressey Yup, you can use different bases but sadly most people aren't familiar with base 2 or base 60.

    • @JNCressey
      @JNCressey Před 4 lety

      @@MichaelPohoreski, then it's serendipitous that my method is in base 10.

  • @StuMas
    @StuMas Před 4 lety +3

    *Johnny is still on the ball!*

    • @fellowcitizen
      @fellowcitizen Před 4 lety

      now purge any words briefer than four characters or containing a narrow vowel

  • @martijn3151
    @martijn3151 Před 4 lety

    Love this guy! Amazing story teller. I’d love to see more math history episodes.

  • @matthewgough9533
    @matthewgough9533 Před 2 lety

    That was absolutely fantastic! I've seen this about 10 years ago but it was great to see it again.

  • @hamiltonianpathondodecahed5236

    Cliff Stoll, Johnny Ball, -Matt Parker- ,these people should never ever die atleast not before me

    • @JohnMichaelson
      @JohnMichaelson Před 4 lety

      Is there some inside humor about Matt Parker I'm not aware of for his name to be crossed out?

    • @chaosme1ster
      @chaosme1ster Před 4 lety +1

      @@JohnMichaelson Parker Square

  • @rayhanmansoor2951
    @rayhanmansoor2951 Před 4 lety +3

    Brilliant is really helpful
    I learned a lot in 6 months

  • @KeldWolf
    @KeldWolf Před 4 lety

    If more ad placements had such relaxing music i think i'd sit through it. That was simply pleasant.

  • @lordvenusianbroon
    @lordvenusianbroon Před 4 lety

    Oh my gawd, Sir Johnny 'Think of a Number' Ball!
    What a legend. You are spoiling us getting him on the Channel. And on my birthday. Brings me back to my yoof in the early 80s.

  • @Seraph.G
    @Seraph.G Před 4 lety +5

    While watching this video, I ran into my sister's room to show her the ancient Egyptian multiplication halfway through putting my socks on because I thought it was so cool.

  • @moshe_raz9385
    @moshe_raz9385 Před 4 lety +5

    Omg that blew my mind

  • @apollobraden
    @apollobraden Před 4 lety

    More of this!!! This was amazing.

  • @SteveEngledow
    @SteveEngledow Před 4 lety

    Excellent! More of the wonderful Johnny Ball please ❤️

  • @bssyamkrishnan
    @bssyamkrishnan Před 4 lety +5

    okay now THIS should be taught in all schools all over the world!!

    • @inyobill
      @inyobill Před 4 lety +1

      Not practical for large numbers, complicated to multiply fractions. The method taught always works and is over-all he most efficient.

    • @terranrepublican5522
      @terranrepublican5522 Před 4 lety +1

      it's taught in the second week of the first semester at my uni, computer science

    • @corasundae
      @corasundae Před 4 lety +1

      Doubling isn't that easy to do in your head with larger numbers.

  • @sk8rdman
    @sk8rdman Před 4 lety +9

    It is a rare and beautiful moment when I see a new (to me) piece of math like this.
    I just want to grab it like a toy and start playing with it. Figure out how it works.

    • @tudormontescu6275
      @tudormontescu6275 Před 4 lety

      It works the same as the usual method, only slower.

    • @sk8rdman
      @sk8rdman Před 4 lety

      @@tudormontescu6275 But why does it work? That's what's intriguing.

  • @GaryMarriott
    @GaryMarriott Před 4 lety

    I never thought I would have Johnny Ball astound me ever again, thanks Numberphile.

  • @leanbravo8856
    @leanbravo8856 Před 4 lety

    This was both enlightening and charming. I am delighted.

  • @TentoesMe
    @TentoesMe Před 4 lety +8

    Oh my! They're converting it to base 2 and multiplying in base 2!

  • @PTNLemay
    @PTNLemay Před 4 lety +47

    This is how I imagine Samwise Gamgee's gaffer sounds like.

  • @him050
    @him050 Před 2 lety +1

    Bristolian here and as soon as I heard that accent I smashed that like button!

  • @Fogmeister
    @Fogmeister Před 4 lety

    🤯
    This is awesome and the twist is even better!

  • @user-fg1jn8iz3n
    @user-fg1jn8iz3n Před 4 lety +27

    Well i’am from Russia and I haven’t heard about this method 😄
    But I admit it’s stunning!

    • @andres6868
      @andres6868 Před 4 lety +1

      It's on several books I have as the "Russian peasant multiplication method"

    • @pansepot1490
      @pansepot1490 Před 4 lety +8

      Lol the comment section is full of people from Russia who have never heard of this method. I guess “Russian” is just the name the Brits have for it. Like French kiss.
      Also, Russians must be very fond of mathematics if there’s so many who follow this channel. 😀

    • @willdarling1
      @willdarling1 Před 4 lety +1

      next we'll find out brazil nuts actually come from Spain

    • @user-iw8iq1vz2y
      @user-iw8iq1vz2y Před 4 lety +1

      Нихера не понятно, но очень интересно))

    • @ivansusanin6748
      @ivansusanin6748 Před 4 lety

      @@pansepot1490 This method was widely used by Russian peasants. This is indicated by the mathematics historian Wiktor Wiktorowitsch Bobynin (1849-1919). But since 1917 in Soviet times he was not taught.

  • @jase6709
    @jase6709 Před 4 lety +9

    "That's Numberwang"

  • @ericsaroni9380
    @ericsaroni9380 Před 3 lety

    One of the most interesting numberphile video I've watched.

  • @mattshaw5179
    @mattshaw5179 Před 4 lety

    Seeing Johnny Ball has made my day! More please!!