Social Studies

Binary numbers first arose around the 4th century in the great Vedic literature's and were written in the first language ever devised, Sanskrit. However, over time, the numerical system was eventually forgotten about, until it was rediscovered in the 17th century.

In 1679, German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz, the father of calculus, published an article titled "Explanation of the Binary Arithmetic", in which he spoke of a numeral system consisting of only the digits 0 and 1. He was theorizing that life could be reduced to simple codes of rows of combinations of zeroes and ones. Not actually knowing what this system would be used for, eventually, with the help of George Boole, Boolean logic was developed, using the on/off system of zeroes and ones for basic algebraic operations. The on or off codes were rapidly implemented by computers for doing seemingly unlimited numbers of applications.

Today, the binary numerical system is the foundation for all modern electronics. Using only two digits, 0 and 1, any number can be represented. This is extremely useful in computing, where memory consists of small elements that may only be in two states, on and off, or 0 and 1. Such elements are known as binary digits, or bits. Four bits combine to make a byte, which can be used to store all kinds of data, from pictures and videos, to text and audio.

All computer language is based on the binary system of logic. It is the back end of all computer functioning. All computer functions will rapidly toggle between 0 and 1 at rapid speeds. By doing so, computers have come to assist humans in tasks that would take so much longer to complete. For example, in WWII, the United States sent sensitive war plans and other information to their allies after encrypting the information, which was done by humans. Encrypting information usually took an extensive amount of time to do, and without the encryption code, it was nearly impossible to decode. Today, computers have come to replace humans in the field of cryptography because they can encrypt and decode data thousands of times faster than any human could.