FROM THE HISTORY OF THE BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM. UNKNOWN AUTHOR'S BROCHURE
The article describes the first in history, according to the author, "practical use of the binary number system". This is an old puzzle, in different languages having different names, first described in the brochure "Théorie du baguenodier..." ("Theory of baguenodier...") published in France in 1872. The diagrams in the brochure show the various puzzle states and binary state numbers. French mathematician Éduard Lucas developed the idea of using the connection of a situation on a diagram that simulates a puzzle with the binary number of the corresponding move to determine the number of moves required to move from any one state of the puzzle to any other. This number is equal to the difference between the decimal equivalents of the binary numbers of the two states. In addition, Lucas pointed out the relationship between the binary numbers of all states of a puzzle with n rings with all possible combinations without repetitions of n objects.