Blog Response 2

I think 60 was a convenient number in Babylonian time because the concept of time was important to them. They did not have electricity for light, so time dictates what activities they do. This concept translated to everything else they did. I predict that 60 was a useful number because there are many factorizations of 60 compared to 10. Merchants in the early times needed to show their wares to do efficient trading. If they were to display their wares in groups of 60, it may be easier for the customer to count than in groups of 10.

Today, we use 60 in time-telling, and maybe even in geometry. There are 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour. There are 360 (6 times 60) degrees in a full rotation around a point. I don't know exactly why 60 is so significant in time and space, but I know that it works extremely well in today's society.

After some research, I found that some of my predictions were correct. The number 60 is a highly composite number, meaning it has many factors. They used 60 for trade between merchants and buyers. They also used 60 as a way to write and calculate fractions easier because of it's many factors. Astronomers used base 60 to tell time, by dividing hours into minutes, then into seconds. Today, we use base 60 for time-telling, calculating angles, as well as looking up geographical coordinates.


Comments

  1. Amanda FritzlanOctober 9, 2022 at 4:52 PM

    The connections to astronomy are important for the development of base 60 systems. I like that you have also considered how base 60 facilitated fractions or parts for ancient Babylonians.

    ReplyDelete

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