Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cbmvax!snark!eric From: eric@snark.UUCP (Eric S. Raymond) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: non-binary hardware Summary: Details, please? Message-ID: Date: 16 Sep 88 23:14:56 GMT References: <1285@mcgill-vision.uucp> <3473@phri.uucp> <5718@utah-cs.uucp> <655@calvin.ee.cornell.edu> <2997@pt.cs.cmu.edu> <17234@apple.apple.com> Organization: Smash-the-State Leather and Lingerie Boutique Lines: 19 In article <17234@apple.apple.com>, baum@apple.UUCP (Allen Baum) writes: > There is some sort of proof, which I've seen, but don't remember details of, > that the optimal base for computation is e (2.71828...). The proof wasn't > very complicated, and I've forgotten what the measure is of 'best'. Would someone who is familiar with this result please post a summary? I too have heard of it as a 'folk theorem', without description of the measure with respect to which e is 'best' (though I have some vague idea that it has something to do with 'entropy' in Shannon's information-theoretic sense; I'm not sure whether this is a genuine memory of the explanation or something I conjectured afterwards). I've never been able to find a reference for this and it's been bugging me for years. I've been on the point of posting about it several times, and Mr. Baum's posting pushed me over that edge. Someone, please, lay this haunt to rest! -- Eric S. Raymond (the mad mastermind of TMN-Netnews) UUCP: ...!{uunet,att,rutgers}!snark!eric = eric@snark.UUCP Post: 22 S. Warren Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355 Phone: (215)-296-5718