29 May
2010
29 May
'10
1:32 p.m.
On Sat, 29 May 2010, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Exactly so! 10 in the natural scheme of things, other
than being a
notational convenience for people using base ten is not terribly
useful other than being able to count on your fingers (the Mayans,
with their base twenty system, evidently used their toes as well).
'course their calendar only goes to 2012
My question about eggs attempted to show why there are
other numbers
that make more sense. Twelve is a number that's even divisible by 2,
3, 4 and 6, meaning that one can pack a dozen eggs as 1 row by 12
eggs, or 2 rows by 6 eggs or 3 rows by 4 eggs... It also means that
I can purchase a half-dozen eggs by simply dividing a 2x6 or 4x3
carton in half--with 10 eggs, you have a loose single egg.
Similarly, it's easy to sell a third, quarter or a sixth dozen--or
three-quarters, two-thirds and five-sixths.
. . . and if you cook 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 12 at a time, you don't end up
with loose ones. And you can split them evenly if you are cooking for 1,
2, 3, 4, 6, 0r 12 people.