Advent of Computing: Episode 187 - What's Better Than Binary?
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Episode 187 - What's Better Than Binary?
Episode 187 - What's Better Than Binary?
Aug 17, 2026<br>Binary is synonymous with digital computing. But is it the only<br>way to crunch numbers? The short answer is no. The long answer,<br>well, that's today's topic. Today we are talking about ternary, aka<br>base 3. From it's early uses in the 19th century, to actual<br>computers, and even theoretical designs; ternary proves to be a<br>difficult topic to track down... and a very unique one.
Selected sources:
https://www.mortati.com/glusker/fowler/fowlerbio.htm<br>- Information and a reconstruction of Fowler's contraption
https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/776378.776392 -<br>Part I of the TERNAC papers, rationale!
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Welcome to Advent of Computing, the show that talks about the shocking, intriguing, and all too often relevant history of computing. A lot of little things we take for granted today have rich stories behind their creation, in each episode we will learn how older tech has lead to our modern world.
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