Why a Machine Can't Count on Its Fingers (Why Computers Use Binary) | From Marks to Machines Ep 7

A brass wheel can have ten teeth. So why does every computer on your desk count in twos? In this episode we build what the clerk did, first in brass and then in electricity, and find that a voltage has no positions. We look at what a "state" really is, why a real wire is never quiet, and why two states survive the noise where ten don't. Along the way: ENIAC (decimal outside, binary inside), Leibniz inventing binary and then building a decimal machine, Shannon's master's thesis, and Setun, the Soviet computer that used three states. 0:00 A wheel and a wire 0:32 Build what the clerk did 1:03 The clerk, translated into brass 1:26 The figure wheel and the carry 2:12 Ten teeth or two? 2:42 Why isn't one on your desk? 3:00 Speed, and the move to electricity 3:40 A voltage has no positions 4:02 What a state really is 4:21 States as valleys 4:57 A real wire is never quiet 5:15 Two states against ten 6:18 A gate repairs the signal 6:58 Two states is what survives 7:15 ENIAC: decimal outside, binary inside 7:56 The world's two-state things 8:51 Leibniz invents binary, builds decimal 9:38 Shannon's master's thesis 10:27 Setun, the machine that used three 11:04 Anatomy against physics 11:23 From here on, everything is translation 11:56 What it bought, what it cost 12:26 Next: Counting Upwards from Nothing Series playlist: From Marks to Machines #ComputerOrganisation #ComputerScience #Binary