– Why is time measured in multiples of 60? Wouldn’t a base 10 form of measurement make more sense in applications like physics?
In: 1
I want you to take a look at your hand.
Using your thumb count the number of finger bones.
Through this method you can count to 12 on one hand.
Back in the the time when the Sumerians were still around thousands of years ago, this was a popular way of counting on your finger.
It’s why the dozen is still a popular count, the Egyptians did similar things, that’s why there’s 12 hours of day, and 12 hours of night.
Now think back to kindergarten and the way you were taught to count with your fingers.
This method of counting with your fingers was also popular with people in the same area.
So say you want to compromise between these two.
Well you could count the number in the current dozen with one hand, and count the number of dozens with the other hand using the kindergarten method.
5 x 12 = 60.
That’s one story at least.
The issue is that all of this is happening so far back in history that it’s impossible to know for sure.
And it’s possible the counting style went back and forth, and different people came up with the same thing for different reasons.
It doesn’t help that 60 has an unusually large number of things that divide it,so maybe it was all sorts of different systems colliding, and all coming up with 60 because it was so divisible.
Latest Answers