So much has been written and spoken about the coming Millenium that many are - quite understandingly - more confused than ever. Is it mainly a computer problem, or does it perhaps have some deep cosmic significance? In the meantime those people who like to play games with numbers are having a great time and they can probably derive some wonderful and exciting predictions from their calculations.

But of course there are certain difficulties.. A priori it is difficult to accept that the number of revolutions of a relatively small planet around a very average star, just one of the many billions in the universe , should be of any consequence. But we shall just let that pass and accept that the beginning of our counting period was meant to coincide with birth of Jesus, at the same time noting in passing that it is now generally agreed that this birth happened around 6 BC. And as regards the precise date and the season of the year, it is very hard to believe that there were shepherds watching their flocks by night in the bleak midwinter. Then there is the vexed question whether the true millenium should be considered to end when the numbers change from 1999 to 2000, or when a thousand years have elapsed? Here we can fortunately at least agree that 1000 years have elapsed since the numbers changed from 999 to 1000. But to confuse the matter further, there are a number of countries and religious groups which have for centuries used different calenders, and which will almost certainly continue to do so.

But all these problems are relatively minor ones. There is in fact a far more important question, and it seems strange that scarcely anyone appears to have given it a thought.

From the time we were born we we taught to count in tens, a method which is known as a denary or decimal system. Ten tens make one hundred, ten hundreds one thousand, and so on. It just seemed to be the natural thing to do. One always had the feeling that it must have been based on some very fundamental law of nature. But is it? If we look at it carefully, the only clear connection with nature that we can find is the fact that all human beings were, are, and probably always will be born with ten fingers, five on each hand. From the very earliest times man must have been using his fngers to count. The Roman numerals give a very neat illustration of this. Numbers one, two, three and four are indicated by one to four fingers, I , II, III or IIII, while five is indicated by a V, a symbolic representation of an open hand. Two V's joined together make an X , which equals ten. For mathematical and general scientific use the Roman numerals are not very practical, and they have therefore been generally discarded, but counting in tens has remained with us ever since the very early days.

However, there is no law in nature which says that it must necessarily be like that. Had we been born with four fingers on each hand, it is more than likely that we would now be counting in eights, i.e. using an octal scale, which incidentally would have been an advantage for computer programming. There is basically no objection at all to counting in eights - or twelves, for that matter.

When counting in eights, 10 would represent what we now call 8, 100 would stand for our present 64, and a millenium would contain 512 years by our present reckoning. It is clear from this that the present "millenium" is altogether a man-made concept, and that it has no special "cosmic" or any other significance whatever.

And thus, having been made by man, it is up to mankind - which really means you and me - to make the very best use of it.

Jan Hers.