Anchient Mesopotamia
The Greek term Mesopotamia meaning, "land between two rivers: is located between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. Today, we know this region as Iraq. Having a mathematical spohisticaton far ahead of their time, the Babylonians famously used the base 60 numeral system, or otherwise known as the sexagesimal numeral system. This unique number system first origionated in the 3rd millennium BC with the Sumerians and was inherited by the Babylons. Fascinated with astronomy and in need of a number system capable of making sophisticated computations, the Babylonians used the base 60 system to create their lunar calendar.
Notation
Base 60 is a positional number system that operates using powers of 60 rather than ten. This means that the base 60 system had 59 units as opposed to our 9, and each base unit has a uique symbolic representation created with the base symbols (INSERT). The former represented multiples of 1 and the latter, multiples of 10. In the decimal system, we use 10 unique base units (including "0") and arrange these units in a particular position in order to represent different numerical values (i.e. 19 and 91 are different in numerical value relative to the base unit's position in the one's and ten's place). Base 60 operates in a similar fashion.
The true reason as to why the mathematically sophisticated Babylonians used the base 60 system is still being studied today, but there is intersting symmetry about this number. For example, 60 has divisior 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 115, 20, 30 and 60 - in fact, 60 is the smallest integer divisible by all integers from 1 to 6. Today, applications of the base 60 system are commonly associated with time (i.e. 60 minutes per hour, 12 hours in a day, etc.) and agle measures (6 X 60=360 degrees).
The Greek term Mesopotamia meaning, "land between two rivers: is located between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. Today, we know this region as Iraq. Having a mathematical spohisticaton far ahead of their time, the Babylonians famously used the base 60 numeral system, or otherwise known as the sexagesimal numeral system. This unique number system first origionated in the 3rd millennium BC with the Sumerians and was inherited by the Babylons. Fascinated with astronomy and in need of a number system capable of making sophisticated computations, the Babylonians used the base 60 system to create their lunar calendar.
Notation
Base 60 is a positional number system that operates using powers of 60 rather than ten. This means that the base 60 system had 59 units as opposed to our 9, and each base unit has a uique symbolic representation created with the base symbols (INSERT). The former represented multiples of 1 and the latter, multiples of 10. In the decimal system, we use 10 unique base units (including "0") and arrange these units in a particular position in order to represent different numerical values (i.e. 19 and 91 are different in numerical value relative to the base unit's position in the one's and ten's place). Base 60 operates in a similar fashion.
The true reason as to why the mathematically sophisticated Babylonians used the base 60 system is still being studied today, but there is intersting symmetry about this number. For example, 60 has divisior 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 115, 20, 30 and 60 - in fact, 60 is the smallest integer divisible by all integers from 1 to 6. Today, applications of the base 60 system are commonly associated with time (i.e. 60 minutes per hour, 12 hours in a day, etc.) and agle measures (6 X 60=360 degrees).
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