On Sat, November 11, 2006 3:18 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 12:32:36AM -0700, Bob La Quey wrote: >> Then we have the clock. I iwll leave my rant on 12 x 2 for >> another time. (subtle pun?) > > Some ancient civilization (Babylonians?) used base 60. > > IIRC *THIS* is why clocks are base 12 and degrees are base 360. > > Chris >
You are correct, sir, although the underlying reason was that the Babylonians used the duodecimal base (12) because they didn't believe in the reality of fractional numbers. This is less bizarre that it might seem. Succeding generations of mathematicians have dealt with new kinds of numbers they had trouble believing in. The "real" numbers implied that some weren't. Then there were irrationals, imaginaries, trancendentals, and probably bunches I've forgotten. Probably the next breakthrough will be the "bizarro" numbers. And, as I may have mentioned before, because the Babylonians did the seminal work on circles and astronomy, circles and time are locked into their non-decimal base. Too bad, especially in time. Kids have to learn it, but it's really klugey[0] [0] Vernor Vinge in his novels about space has time measured in seconds times powers of ten -- kiloseconds, megaseconds, etc. This makes special sense in the context of a space ship without a solar rotation period. -- Lan Barnes Tcl/Tk Enthusiast SCM Analyst Linux Guy Biodiesel Brewer -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
