of “double translation” such as appealed deeply to the early 
humanists of the Renaissance. Yet today number is as obsolete 
as the phonetic alphabet as a means of endowing and applying 
experience and knowledge. We are now as post-number as we 
are post-literate in the electronic age. There is a mode of 
calculation that is pre-digital Dantzig points out (p. 14):

          There exists among the most primitive tribes of 
     Australia and Africa a system of numeration which has 
     neither 5, 10, nor 20 for base. It is a binary  system, i.e., 
     of base two. These savages have not yet reached finger 
     counting. They have independent numbers for one and 
     two, and composite numbers up to six. Beyond six 
     everything is denoted by “heap”.

     Dantzig indicates that even digital counting is a kind of