How big is a billion? - Numberphile
Numberphile1 HN recommender · recommended in 1 month, 2014–2024
explainer · general · evergreen · 2014–2024 on HN
Numberphile explains the long and short scales for naming large numbers, covering millions, billions, trillions, milliards and the Greek myriad, with James Grime and Tony Padilla.
HN links it whenever a thread hits the ambiguity of whether a billion is 10^9 or 10^12.
Up next
18 mo on HNVectors | Chapter 1, Essence of linear algebra
3Blue1Brown
17 HN recommender · 2018–2026
15 mo on HNBut what is the Fourier Transform? A visual introduction.
3Blue1Brown
16 HN recommender · 2018–2025
14 mo on HNBut what is a neural network? | Deep learning chapter 1
3Blue1Brown
16 HN recommender · 2017–2025
13 mo on HNThe Beauty of Bézier Curves
Freya Holmér
16 HN recommender · 2021–2026
11 mo on HNThe Continuity of Splines
Freya Holmér
10 HN recommender · 2022–2026
13 mo on HNJim Simons (full length interview) - Numberphile
Numberphile2
11 HN recommender · 2015–2024
11 mo on HNBut how does bitcoin actually work?
3Blue1Brown
15 HN recommender · 2017–2024
10 mo on HNConway's Game Of Life in APL
Dyalog
11 HN recommender · 2010–2024
9 mo on HNThe essence of calculus
3Blue1Brown
10 HN recommender · 2017–2025
8 mo on HNThe man with 1,000 Klein Bottles UNDER his house - Numberphile
Numberphile
8 HN recommender · 2015–2024
7 mo on HNEssence of linear algebra preview
3Blue1Brown
11 HN recommender · 2016–2018
7 mo on HNA Swift Introduction to Geometric Algebra
sudgylacmoe
7 HN recommender · 2020–2024
7 comments from Hacker News
I don't think that's right. 10^6 is a million in both languages. 10^9 used to be a milliard in British English but is no longer used. It is now referred to as a billion. 10^12 used to be a billion in British English but is now referred to as a trillion. Edit: ▶ this video explains it all quite nicely.
> Since SQLite is used extensively in every smartphone, and there are more than 4.0 billion (4.0e9) smartphones in active use, each holding hundreds of SQLite database files, it is seems likely that there are over one trillion (1e12) SQLite databases in active use. I find the scientific notation of the counts amusing given the sometimes different meanings of "billion" and "trillion" (especially with English as a second language): * link * ▶ this video * link (bonus: on French numbers)
MM is for mille-mille (French?), thousand-thousand, so 1000-1000 or 1-000-000. See "How big is a billion?" from Numberphile : * ▶ this video * link
See "How big is a billion?" by Numberphile : * ▶ this video * link (Given a choice, I would go with the long system, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the timeline we live in.)
See also the video "How big is a billion?" by the Numberphile channel: > We discuss millions, billions, trillions and centillions is this film about the long and short scales. We also touch on quadrillions, sextillions, milliards, billiards and the Greek myriad. * ▶ this video Does a "billion" have 9 zeros or 12 zeros? * link * link
> What other spelling idiosyncrasies are there that I can get on my high horse about? Long and short number scales? * link Is "billion" a thousand million (10^9) or a million million (10^12)? Numberphile video: * ▶ this video TL;DR: billion = bi-million = two of 10^6 = 10^{6x2} = 10^12. trillion = tri-million = 10^{6x3} = 10^18, and not 10^12. quad rillion, pent ….
A thousand-billion is the old way of referring to numbers, but the UK switch to the American style in the 1970s. Strangely, the old style of billion, thousand-billion, trillion, thousand-trillion, quadrillion, etc, makes much more sense. What is a billion two of, anyway? What is a trillion three of? And so on? ▶ this video