Re: [math-fun] when and why was it agreed that 0.999...=1?

Anyone who's dealt with 1's complement arithmetic (used briefly in some computers in the 1960's) has already faced this issue: 11111.... = 00000... = 0 Perhaps we should bring 1's complement back for pedagogical purposes? There's lots of "redundant" number systems, with 2 or more names of the same value. In fact, deep in computer arithmetic units numbers are "recoded" all the time -- e.g., from digits {0,1}, to digits {0,1,-1}. I don't think that the Romans ever standardized on "IV" versus "IIII". Perhaps there isn't any way of disallowing 0.999..., without screwing everything else up even more. At 08:33 PM 11/13/2012, Gary Antonick wrote:

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone knows when and why it was agreed that 0.999...=1.