Based on some new analysis I’ve done of Nanyan numerals (as described here), I’ve discovered a new algorithm for generating Nanyan numerals. Previously, the only way I new to generate them was to factor the number and recursively figure out the Nanyan numeral for each prime factor and then combine them from lowest to highest. Or you can just find the lowest factor of a number and then combine that with the numeral for the number divided by that lowest… Read more

For the past few years, we’ve had a number of 50-year milestones for the various manned lunar flights. Apollo 8 circled the moon in December 1968, and the following year Apollo 11 made the first manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969. Besides Apollo 11, there were five other lunar landings, ending with Apollo 17. (Apollo 13 was scheduled to land in April 1970, but famously did not.) In honor of those anniversaries, I thought I’d share one of the… Read more

On the Postdiluvian blog, I gave an explanation of how Nanyan Numerals work.  Now I want to show you how to create a simple Python program for converting to and from Nanyan Numerals.  For this post, I’ll focus on converting Nanyan numerals to a more readable integer. The language of choice for this project is Python.  Open a new file and let’s begin. We’ll start by adding the Nanyan Numeral we want to convert, and let’s choose the number 5. … Read more