michael_nielsen

Imagine you're a designer or mathematician living in ancient Rome. Being a curious & imaginative sort, used to exploring wild ideas, you ask yourself: is there some way you can improve on the roman numeral system? Might it be possible to find a better way of representing number?

Technological innovations were suppressed all the time in the Roman empire, because the rich were afraid they would create unemployment and therefore unrest. Classical example, the water mill. Known from early on, was only implemented on large scale after 1st c. BC.