Arabic Numerals

I needed a second alarm clock since I spend a lot of nights out at the camp so I bought this one at the souq. Remember the "Arabic" numbers we learned in school? Note the numerals on the clock - these are the primary ones on license plates and such here. But everyone knows the Western numbers also.

Based on what I have been able to find out off the internet (a completely reliable source of information) the base 10 number system being commonly used today came from India although base 10 system developed elsewhere of course. An Arabic scholar, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (c.778 - c.850), developed the numbers from the Indian math that eventually evolved into the ones we use. The first four numbers were based on angles and 5 through 9 and 10 (using zero) were based on notation used for the abacus. This evolution followed different paths in the West and the East. The ones used in Arabia are actually based on evolution that occured in India.

The ones in use in the West are better in my estimation for several reasons - the most important is that it is too easy to modify the Eastern. Imagine a check for $100. Look at the numbers on the clock and imagine how easy it would be to change that into $355 or some other number. It is interesting that Arabic text is written right to left and that could make it very interesting going between the two number systems if care wasn't taken!

This clock cost an extra 10 riyals more than most of the others they had. Why? Because it was made in Japan! In the '50s Japanese goods were synonomous with low quality. Today you pay extra for it. The cheap stuff comes from China. Even the souvenirs for different places (including Qatar) are made in China. It is a good alarm clock that is nice and loud with numbers big enough to read if only they were "Arabic" numbers instead of "Indian" ones...