Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
and Twenty Shillings to the pounds because we have twenty finger and toes I suppose?
Nope. We use base 10 because of 10 fingers, but we used base 12 because it's easily divided by 2, 3, 4 and 6. Sumerians used base 60 (not base 12), as that adds in divisibility by 5 (& 10, 12, 15, 20, 30).
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Yes, it was the Sumarians, and remanants of it still survive in the number of degrees in a circle, and the twelve signs of the zodiac and 12 months in the year (one for each sign).
Hmm, should we change to a 400 day year of ten months each?