Xref: utzoo sci.math:7165 comp.misc:6463
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!cs.utexas.edu!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!leah!rpi!pawl21.pawl.rpi.edu!entropy
From: entropy@pawl.rpi.edu (Math Student from Hell)
Newsgroups: sci.math,comp.misc
Subject: Re: Base 3 computers? (was: Divide by three?)
Summary: Base e 'most efficient'?  Eh, wot?
Message-ID: <5787@rpi.edu>
Date: 1 Jul 89 02:31:34 GMT
References: <d33P02nM30sj01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> <6710021@hpcupt1.HP.COM> <6250@sunray.UUCP> <626@hrc63.co.uk> <SHAFER.89Jun28150955@drynix.dfrf.nasa.gov>
Sender: usenet@rpi.edu
Organization: Eaters of Wisdom
Lines: 11

In article <SHAFER.89Jun28150955@drynix.dfrf.nasa.gov> shafer@drynix.dfrf.nasa.gov writes:
>When I was at UCLA, majoring in CS, one of my professors told me that
>the Russians had tried to build a trinary computer.  The reason being
>that Shannon proved that e (2.7...) was the most efficient base for
>information content and 3 was closer to e than 2 was.

I've heard this before.  Can someone in netland tell me
what it means?  

    What a wonderful thing is the human brain; how I wish I possessed one.
Mark-Jason Dominus 	   entropy@pawl.rpi.EDU	     entropy@rpitsmts (BITnet)