By Bilsana Bibic
Today, while we were putting up our numbers for the F2 Drosophila crossings, it came to the attention of some of the students in my class that I write my sevens with a strike in the middle and that my nines look like a handwritten letter g. This initiated a conversation about the Arabic number system and the origins of the writing of the numbers in it. Mr. Choe told us that proper writing of these numbers is related to the number of angles that each number represents. I never knew this was the case but find it really fascinating now that I know about it. Thus, I decided to share this idea with you guys.
The Johnnie Chair 
This is awesome! Maybe I’ll have to start writing my 8s like that…
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Gah! No! If the intersecting lines meet at their termini, they still have two angles, and if they bisect, there are four angles. Look at the 2 – there are two acute and two obtuse angles, making four, not two! Absurd! Absurd!
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That is very true. The vertical equal angles of the number 2 certainly imply two parallel lines intersected by another straight line, thus leading to four rather than two angles. But than again, every theory has its questionable parts. 🙂
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It can’t be! If we don’t consider reflex angles, we’re still good, right?
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I just read this in your voice. BTW This is so cool! Is this how we should be writing numbers?
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Only if you want to be friends with the cool kids…
Thanks Cammie, miss you guys loads!
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