Newspaper editors are so incredibly ignorant about measurement. "Scientists"
didn't have any "reason" to divide days into 24 hours and hours into 60
minutes and minutes into 60 seconds. It was the ancient Babylonians who
invented hours, for superstitious astrological reasons (12 zodiac
constellations = 12 hours). The Babylonians, who had a complicated
non-decimal number system, also gave us those clumsy sexagesimal
subdivisions, "first min�te parts" [minutes] and "second min�te parts"
[seconds] that still plague us in several different angle and time units
(especially in astronomy and geography). "Scientists" tried to introduce
decimal time along with the original metric system, but it failed because
the old units were too entrenched. And I understand that in the middle ages,
hours were divided decimally for a while. The second of time is one of the
major weaknesses of SI, but it's too late to change now.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of Howard Ressel
> Sent: 2000 December 1 Friday 06:17
> To: U.S. Metric Association
> Subject: [USMA:9479] Swatch Time editorial
>
>
> There was an editorial in my local paper today, the Rochester Democrat
> & Chronicle. It was an anti-swatch time editorial but there was a hidden
> pro metric message. The article was against swatch time arguing that the
> 24 hr clock was based on scientific principles and does not lends
> itself to
> a logical division by 10.
>
> "Time doesn't fit nicely into division of 10 the way that measuring
> distance or weight does. Scientist had their reasons for choosing 24
> hours and 60 minutes , and they still hold"
>
> I may write and ask them, if measuring by 10's is so simple why does the
> paper insist on measuring everything in 12's (ie inches/feet).
>
> Howard Ressel, Metric Manager
> New York State Department of Transportation, Region 4
>
>
