Thus it was written in the epistle of Nick Demos,
> We have a ten based numbering system - most mathematicians agree
> a 12 based system would be better -evenly divisible by five numbers

And the computer folk would like either an 8- or 16-based system :-).
I'm in the middle of a book called _Number_ about the history of numbers[1],
and the author claims that we use 60 minutes in an hour because the Babylonians
(I think it was) used a base 60 system.  Despite having to learn 60 different
numerals, this would be nice for the same reason that the base 12 system would,
but even more so.

> OK - too big a change(?) then what about a 100 second hour?

Don't tempt me.  With the help of a couple friends in engr school, I once
worked out the implications of metric time.  It would have been really hard on
the physicists (some fairly fundemental numbers would change due to the change
in units), but would have made things very nice for calculations.

The units were actually fairly usable.  The "hours" were 2.4 hours long which
was probably the worst match.  The "minutes" came out to 1.44 minutes, so
college classes would probably have been half an "hour" (or more familiarly, 50
"minutes") long and rather than meeting somewhere in 15 minutes you'd meet in
10 "minutes".

>  America hasn't adopted the metric system yet except in science and
> medicine.

Traveling down I-75 coming into Chattanooga, there is one sign which gives the
distance in both miles and kilometers, but it is the only one in the state of
TN so far as I know :-).

Ted

[1] not one I'd recommend, I'm afraid--interesting reading, but the author,
first of all, has a pretty obvious "ax to grind", and secondly, has significant
problems with his mathematics and internal consistency--I'm never quite sure
which of the two conflicting statements he has just asserted he actually
believes is true.
--
Ted Ashton ([log in to unmask]), Info Serv, Southern Adventist University
          ==========================================================
On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr.
Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers
come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kindof confusion of ideas
that could provoke such a question.
                                       -- Babbage, Charles (1792-1871)