The major system (also called the phonetic number system, phonetic mnemonic system, or Herigone's mnemonic system) is a
mnemonic
A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding.
Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and image ...
technique used to aid in memorizing numbers.
The system works by converting numbers into
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced ...
s, then into words by adding
vowels
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (l ...
. The system works on the principle that images can be remembered more easily than numbers.
One notable explanation of this system was given in
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of L ...
's book ''The First Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions'' (just ''Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions'' in the UK edition), which has since been republished in ''The New Martin Gardner Mathematical Library'' as ''Hexaflexagons, Probability Paradoxes, and the Tower of Hanoi''. In this, Gardner traces the history of the system back to
Pierre Hérigone
Pierre Hérigone (Latinized as Petrus Herigonius) (1580–1643) was a French mathematician and astronomer.
Of Basque origin, Hérigone taught in Paris for most of his life.
Works
Only one work by Hérigone is known to exist: ''Cursus mathematicu ...
and
Richard Grey
Sir Richard Grey (1457 – 25 June 1483) was an English knight and the half-brother of King Edward V of England.
Early life
Richard Grey was the younger son of Sir John Grey of Groby and Elizabeth Woodville. Richard was a 3-year-old child w ...
with uses by
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
and