The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-30
DEALING WITH BILLIONS.
The immensely of One Billion Shown
By Comparison.

Although the words milliard and
billion are known by name to almost
Ievery one, yet the significance of the
numbers 50 expressed is by far not SO
distinct and familiar to many as the
meanings of the smaller numbers.
For example, If the breadth of street
lis represented by a million units, a
billion of such units would give a, dis
lance equal to that from Hamburg to
San Francisco. If this is not remenn-
bered we are apt TO get very erroneous
impressions, especially Of astronomical
phenomena AS our earth measures
lin its greatest circumference only
about $4,000 miles, while the planets
are distant from the earth and from
each other spaces varying from 27,O00,-
E000 to 100000, 600 miles, accordingly
most of the distances which confront
us on the earth are to be regarded as
vanishingly small when compared with
the distances which confront us in the
planetary system. On the other hand,
the nearest fixed stars have distances
from the EARTH and consequently,
from any point in our planetary sys-
TEN, as great as from II 900, 600, 600 to
4, 600 600, 600, 900 miles; for example,
Sirius is SO, ZOO, 100000 miles distant
Consequently, as in the consideration
| of the distances of fixed stars we have
to deal with billions, while in the case
of planetary distances we only deal
with millions of miles; also, all the dis
tances of the, planets from one another
must be regarded as vanishingly small
when compared with the distances
which confront US in the realm of the
fixed stars. In other G0rds, viewed
| from Sirius, not only the earth or the
sun. but our whole planetary system
Itself would appear as an indefinitely
faint point of light. exactly as Sirius
appears to US as luminous point.
The reader will readily appreciate
that the number billion is generally
conceived too small. when we tell him
| that the German emperor, William L.
on his seth birthday had lived in the
actual number of 2, sos. SIS, 400 seconds,
but that a, billion seconds have not
! elapsed since the origin of the human
species, reckoning the age of humanity
at 10000 years. 1t will also seem liarl-
| ly credible that a billion new Ameri-
can 25c. pieces, placed one on top OF
another would reach an altitude OF
100000 miles. that is to say. would
form cylindrical pile over four times
as high as the moon is from the earth
The fact that the results of modern
science first required of language tbs
! formation of names for large numbers
might lead us to believe that the peo-
pie of early times never made use OF
very large numerical statements Bui
this is not the case More than 2,00(
years ago there lived people, who
from pure motives Of amusement ex
tercised their faculties in this domain
In India. where our present numerical
Esystem was invented, names existed
even in Buddha's time, for number.
up to 100000, 600, eco, and Buddha him
self, it is said, prosecuted the forma
ton of numerical names up to thu
number which we now denote by 1
and flfty-four appended ciphers, anC
might cali nmillicns. This strange
Epassion Of the HindooS found fresl
material for exercise when in thu
fourth century Of our era, the principl
of our present numerical system wa
invented by Hindoo Brahmin priests
and the easy methods of computation
based on this system diffused over al
India. 1t is now possible to multipl.
with faculty numbers of twenty place
with one another and to be sure of tn
correctness of the resules. Nay. in III
seventh century in India. arithmetica
tournaments were held. at which. a
now in our chess tournaments, tn
: great masters of arithmetical compu
tation gathered together, and he wa
crowned as victor who outstripped a
competitors H Schubert, in tn
Open Court