This math scares me

[John W. Baxter]

In article <locs6.79734$1D5.4121865 at e420r-atl1.usenetserver.com>,
 "Steve Holden" <sholden at holdenweb.com> wrote:

> "Fabio Olive Leite" <olive at conectiva.com.br> wrote in message
> news:mailman.984689603.19242.python-list at python.org...
> > On Thu, Mar 15, 2001 at 03:04:07PM +0000, Grant Edwards wrote:
> > )
> > ) One step further is base-60, which is still used for many
> > ) things.  Time and angular measurement for example is partially
> > ) a base-60 system.  I believe that one or more of the ancient
> > ) Aztecs/Incans/Mayans used a base-60 number system.
> >
> > Indeed, they used it. And some other people too, as is seen even today in
> > the most common languages of the word. French, for example, has no "real
> > words" for seventy, eighty and ninety, and uses "sixty ten", "four twenty"
> > and "four twenty ten".
> >
> > Base 12 was used a lot for commerce, as it has more integer fractions than
> > 10. :)
> >
> What can you expect from a race who insist on calling seventeen, eighteen
> and nineteen "ten-seven", "ten-eight" and "ten-nine" respectively? And let's
> not get into punds, shillings and pence.
> 
> old-enough-to-remember-them-ly y'rs  - steve

And stone, furlong, and fortnight:  a valued employee at JPL in the 
early 1960s was tired of all the different measurement systems in which 
data arrived at the Lab from various field locations.  [At least four 
methods of expressing Azimuth, alone.]  He converted everything for one 
(formal) report into the stone/furlong/fortnight system.  ;-)

And let's not forget the 32-point circle used in [English-descended] 
sailing (STILL used in sailing, including iron jib sailing):  "two 
points off the starboard bow" is somehow easier to understand than "22.5 
degrees off the starboard bow".

This floating point thread has become more fun than any of the scores of 
others I've seen here and elsewhere.

  --John (probably bearing roughly WNW 1/4N from *someone* reading this)

-- 
John W. Baxter   Port Ludlow, WA USA  jwbnews at scandaroon.com