Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/08/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Henning writes: "Using the metric system because we have ten fingers are related, but not the reason. Our common numbering system is base 10, and that is why metric makes sense. Our numbering system is base 10 because we have 10 fingers. Therein lies the logic." Logical, perhaps, but not practical. Many other systems of measurement in common use use bases other than 10. Computer science uses the binary system (base 2) since a switch, relay, or transistor is either open or closed. Close behind is the octal system (base 8) for measurement of text in bytes and the hexadecimal system (base 16). Merchants use the duodecimal system (base 12) since a dozen of anything can be divided by factors 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6, making it easy to sell things by the fractional dozen. Thirty five mm film is sold in commercial lengths of 12, 24, and 36 exposures. Even Lincoln calculated historical time by the score (base 20) in the Gettysburg Address phrase "Four score and seven years ago." And, of course, we recently celebrated the millennium (base 1000). On a personal note, the first computer that I personally programmed was the Burroughs 101, a base 10 machine that used 10 step Nixie tubes as a calculating element. The machine existed during the heyday of 10 digit IBM cards. While it made interpretation of the results easy for a ten fingered operator, the machine was soon eclipsed by much faster binary machines. So it goes. Larry Z