Don't be intimidated by the "base b" discussion. The variable b refers to any particular base
(a counting number). Study Table 3.5, and note that the number of symbols is the same as the base.
The process of changing from some base to base 10 is to write the number in expanded notation and
then use the order of operations to simplify the arithmetic. The change from base 10 to another
base b is done by repeated division by the b.