tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28172905.post4150360536506089514..comments2024-03-03T17:53:46.947-05:00Comments on (x, why?): Book Review: Realm of Measure, Isaac Asimov (1960)(x, why?)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17499160002806879025noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28172905.post-80239862000456931302014-07-31T14:27:47.029-04:002014-07-31T14:27:47.029-04:00I forgot to add -- mostly because I was interrupte...I forgot to add -- mostly because I was interrupted while composing -- that the book did have one other interesting note to it:<br /><br />It gave an explanation why the Babylonians had a system based on 60. I can understand 10 and 20, but 60?<br /><br />According to Asimov, it was because of the 365 days in the year. But since that number is inconvenient (prime factorization = 5 * 73), they used 360 instead. Dividing that by 6 gave the 60 that they used for minutes and seconds. <br /><br />I had already known (not that it was mentioned here) that minute came from the same root as the similarly spelled "minute", pronounced "My-newt", and meaning small. "Second" was the second order of smallness below a minute. I don't remember the source of this, but it was referring to degrees, not hours. However, since the Earth's rotation can be measured in both degrees and hours, it's a safe assumption that they're related without a scholarly source.(x, why?)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17499160002806879025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28172905.post-42567025008608616642014-07-31T11:33:49.539-04:002014-07-31T11:33:49.539-04:00While I agree with your historic reasons for by An...While I agree with your historic reasons for by Anglo-Babylonian measures were once practical -- they're still good for the six scratch cooks remaining -- and re the resurgence of binary in the computer age, yes e and 2 are the most useful log bases, increased metricization would still be good for commerce. Worse, one area we've metricized is still incompatible, 750ml vs 700ml !!Bill Rickerhttp://m.twitter.com/n1vuxnoreply@blogger.com