How big is a billion? - Numberphile
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....
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JAMES GRIME: As an antipathian, how big is a billion? TONY PADILLA: No, I'm not even going to go there, man. JAMES GRIME: Well, what were you taught? What were you taught at school? TONY PADILLA: OK. So there's basically two ways of interpreting what a billion is. There is the correct English way. And there's the incorrect American way. I think I was taught a billion is 1,000 million. JAMES GRIME: Right, exactly. Now, that's what I was taught at school as well. Although in Britain the older generation would say a billion is not 1,000 million. They would say it was a million million. TONY PADILLA: There's a beautiful mathematical logic to the old way of doing and it, which I just don't see in the new way. JAMES GRIME: If we a...
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JAMES GRIME: As an antipathian, how big is a billion? TONY PADILLA: No, I'm not even going to go there, man. JAMES GRIME: Well, what were you taught? What were you taught at school? TONY PADILLA: OK. So there's basically two ways of interpreting what a billion is. There is the correct English way. And there's the incorrect American way. I think I was taught a billion is 1,000 million. JAMES GRIME: Right, exactly. Now, that's what I was taught at school as well. Although in Britain the older generation would say a billion is not 1,000 million. They would say it was a million million. TONY PADILLA: There's a beautiful mathematical logic to the old way of doing and it, which I just don't see in the new way. JAMES GRIME: If we a...
