29 May
2010
29 May
'10
9:25 a.m.
On 29 May 2010 at 7:28, dwight elvey wrote:
Thing in the physical world are fraction of powers of
fractions.
Decimal is just what you learned in school.
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).
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.
Western music has a richness of harmonies that can be ascribed to a
12-tone system, rather than, say a 10 or 16 tone one.
The Babylonians didn't get it wrong. A metric system based on 12 or
30 might have made life easier.
Does anyone still make a calculator that works in fractions (ratios)
instead of decimals? There used to be one, mostly intended for
carpenters.
--Chuck