kdh (02/23/83)
Something in a previous article jogged my memory and curiosity: What is the difference between an "American billion" and a "non-American billion" ?? American billion == a thousand million (1,000,000,000,000) (I think) non-American billion == ????? Kevin Hunter houti!kdh
danny (02/24/83)
US: billion = 1000 million trillion = 1000 billion etc many other countries: billion = 1,000,000 million trillion = 1,000,000 billion etc For ex., you'll hear the British refer to the population of the world as four thousand million while Americans say four billion
gh (02/24/83)
The U.S. billion is 10^9, trillion = 10^12 etc. British billion = 10^12, trillion = 10^18 etc The Germans follow the British; the American system was based on the French, but now the French have changed to follow the British, leaving the U.S. out of steop with the rest of the world (as the usual in all matters of units and measures). The entry at "number" in Webster's New Collegiate gives all this and more, including numbers up to centillion. Also of interest is Webster's second definition of "billion" -- "a very large number".
palmer (02/24/83)
One American Billion = one thousand million = 10**9 = 1,000,000,000 (I think this is called a milliard in Britain) British Billion = one million million = 10**12 = 1,000,000,000,000 (what Americans call a trillion) What is a British trillion, 10**18? Physical scientists get around this by sing prefixes: a gigabuck = $10**9 , about the price of a third of a bare-bones aircraft carrier a terrabuck = $10**12 , about the size of the U.S. national debt. David Palmer
ddd (02/24/83)
American billion = one thousand million (= 1,000,000,000, not 1,000,000,000,000) Non-American (English) billion = 1 million million (= 1,000,000,000,000) ---Dilip D'Souza (brunix!ddd)
csc (02/24/83)
A British (Imperial?) Billion is a Million Million (10^12) whereas an "American" Billion is a thousand million (10^9). Sorry about capitalizing "Billion" and "Million"... -jan ...watmath!csc
dje (02/25/83)
Incidentally, there is a European word corresponding to the American billion (10**9) -- the word is "milliard" in England and has cognates in French and German. Dave Ellis Bell Labs, Piscataway ...harpo!npoiv!npois!houxm!5941ux!dje
debray (02/26/83)
an American billion = a thousand million (1 E 9), a "non-American" (English) billion = a million million (1 E 12) (as far as I can remember).
Anonymous (02/28/83)
#R:watmath:-463500:whuxlb:4800002:000:54 whuxlb!Anonymous Feb 28 09:46:00 1983 The big question is how much is a Sagan biiiiillion?
dave (03/01/83)
Then, of course, there's the Canadian billion, which is somewhere in between the American billion and the British billion. We usually value it at about $500,000,000,000. Not afraid to fan the flames Dave Sherman Toronto