Gordon Uber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Let's face it: The Babylonians got it right when they developed the
base-60
> system. It was applied to the sixth of a circle (one sixtieth of this
> being a degree) and the hour, of which we still use the first and second
> minutes. Third minutes (sixtieths of second minutes) are not in common
> use, although I would note that the third minute of an hour is the period
> of U.S. power main standard 60 Hz alternating current. Coincidence?
Is this the origin of our (English, at least) names for units of time?
"Seconds" because it result from dividing an hour by 60 twice?
("Min'-ute", I assume, is related to "mi-nute'" and "mini".)
"Each degree was divided into 60 minutes (our word comes from the Latin
pars minutae, the small part or fraction) and each minute into 60 seconds
(from pars secundae, second fraction)."
Early Astronomy by W. M. O'Neil, p. 138
Is it known whether the Babylonians, when they chose 360 degrees to a
circle, were more concerned with the convenience of numbers divisible
by 2's and 3's or with the fact that there are 360 days in a year
(within a percent or two)?
Babylonian mathematics, which came first, was base 60. Astronomy came
later, but the degree may
have been related to the number of days in a year. Astronomical angles
were often measured relative to a sign of the zodiac, e.g. 15,12 Taurus for
15 degrees 12 minutes in the constellation Taurus.
The Egyptians originated the 24-hour day.
"The division of the circumference of the circle into 360 parts originated
in Babylonian astronomy of the last centuries B.C. The sexagesimal number
system as such is many centuries older and has nothing to do with
astronomical concepts."
The Exact Sciences in Antiquity by O. Neugebauer, p. 25.
Gordon
Gordon Uber [EMAIL PROTECTED] San Diego, California USA
Webmaster: Clocks and Time: http://www.ubr.com/clocks
