In
the Roman number system a symbol has a certain value and as a
result is not able to show place value. This means that mathematical
operations like addition are difficult. It also means that it
is virtually impossible to do subtraction, multiplication or division
algorithms.
So
how did they do all the mathematics needed in the constructing
of all their great buildings, the collection of taxes and the
calculations involved in creating their calendar?
The
answer is the abacus
shown on the desk at the beginning of this webquest. All calculations
were done on the abacus and then roman numerals were used to record
the totals.
NB
The Romans also had no way of representing parts of numbers i.e.
fractions & decimals.
The
shortcomings of the system mean that a lot of the progress we
take for granted would never have been discovered had we continued
to use roman numerals.
Make
a list of things that could not have been achieved if we had have
stayed with this inefficient and cumbersome roman numerals system.
