Whatever may be the origin to use 20,16 or 12 by British, histrigraphy of India reveal these numbers in ancient Weights & Measures to count as Kauri(20), Gaz(yard) of 16 Girah (and Rupee of 16 Annas) and count in Dozen (12) is still popular in villages.
Invention of ZERO given by India has added this dimension to count large and/or astronomical numbers. It is natural if Metric Reform made use of this unique property of Ten(10).
Regards,
Brij B. Vij<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: "Joseph B. Reid" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [USMA:23997] Re: Measure of all things Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 07:55:30 -0500Ma Be wrote in USMA 23993:
This is not about 'magic' existing in our current base 10 system we all use, but that our brains have been proven to be "made to use base 10"!!! That's the essence of the research I was talking about.
How is it that the Brits for many centuries had 20 shillings in a pound and 12 pence in a shilling? The French before The Revolution also had 20 sous in a livre and 12 deniers in a sou. The Americans still have 12 inches in a foot and 16 ounces in a pound.
--
Joseph B. Reid
17 Glebe Road West
Toronto M5P 1C8 Telephone 416-486-6071
_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus
