[cefarix]

Have you ever wondered why numbers are written backwards in English? Why do we write the highest-order digits first and proceed to the lower-order digits?

Well these numbers originated in Arabic, and since Arabic is written right-to-left, writing numbers in Arabic actually follows a more logical order: start with the lowest-order digit, and move on to the higher-order ones.

Apparently when the concept was brought into Europe, they failed to account for the different writing directions.

[wheels]

That's wrong in a couple ways:

• "Arabic numerals" aren't Arabic. They're Indian. They come from the Brahmi script, which is written left to right.

• The prevailing numeral system being replaced, Roman numerals, also placed the most significant digit on the left, so it's unlikely that this was something that was simply forgotten.

• Western languages (usually) mention the most significant digit first when reading the number out, which makes it convenient for it to be written that way as well.

[cefarix]

I know they are Indian. I am from South Asia. However, the modern system was first created in Arabic. Also, I am talking about the placement of the digits, and this came to Europe from Arabic, not Brahmi.

[mwerty]

That does not explain why the Indians did the same thing (I'm assuming) without arabic influence.

[nikcub]

They did. The Indians invented both base10 and positional notation. The Persian's picked it up from the, and a few short years later the Arabs picked it up. It was bought to Europe via Fibonacci's Liber Abaci.

The entire time the positional notation didn't change with alphabet

[SeanLuke]

> However, the modern system was first created in Arabic.

Actually, the modern positional system was created, in its entirety, in India. This includes the use of zero.

al-Khwarizmi gets credit largely for introducing the Indian system to the Arabic and Western world. He is the reason that the Arabs and Europeans use Indian numerals, though they've since mutated in look over time.

[nivertech]

this is where Big Endianess comes from? ;)