23/01/2024 By Kane Khanh
One might find it curious that we divide the hours into 60 minutes and the days into 24 hours – why not a multiple of 10 or 12? Put quite simply. The answer is because the inventors of time did not operate on a decimal (base-10) or duodecimal (base-12) system but a sexagesimal (base-60) system. For the ancient Sumerian innovators who first divided the heavens’ movements into countable intervals, 60 was the perfect number. One might find it curious that we divide the hours into 60 minutes and the days into 24 hours – why not a multiple of 10