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20 Feb 12
Originally posted by KewpieParticularly interesting because at the time there were still 20 shillings to the quid. Perhaps they thought all those female shop assistants were perpetually confused by the difference between a full pound and nineteen bob?
It was interesting to read the British parliamentary discussions in the 1920s, where the point was raised that females weren't mathematically competent and wouldn't be able to manage numbers above 12.
Richard
24 Feb 12
Originally posted by karoly aczelI have read elsewhere that the 24 (hour) division went back to an Egyptian calender,(although I cant find a link yet),
I have read elsewhere that the 24 (hour) division went back to an Egyptian calender,(although I cant find a link yet), where it was linked with other esoteric ideas and such.
I guess at the end of the day people went with what was most convenient and practical.
The decimal hour (that France proposed) seems too long, and impractical.
It has bee ...[text shortened]... est,(or so one report I read stipulated).
I would go along with this from personal experience.
I found this http://africanhistory.about.com/od/egyptology/a/EgyptFatherOfTime_2.htm
01 Mar 12
Originally posted by sonhouseI agree and who could ask for a more specific answer to the question posed?
That is a great link.
"...around 127 CE Hipparchus of Niceae, working in the great city of Alexandria, proposed dividing the day into 24 equinoctial hours..."
I did know that it is associated with the capacity to divide 360 into so many convenient fractions with whole numbers for measuring distances around a circle. The Greeks and mathematicians generally have an aesthetic response to the properties of numbers which, in our non numerate, decimal age, seems to be less appreciated. The fact that there are slightly more than 360 days in a year is an error on the part of the Creator and not a fault of mathematics. Sadly, the Greeks also seem to have got out of touch with numbers since joining the Euro.
02 Mar 12
Originally posted by karoly aczelThe confusion might come from the fact that a reliable time piece was a holy grail of navigation and Cptn cook types explorers were always experimenting with them.
[b]Does anyone know the origin of the 24 hour day?
I was told by a friend that captain James Cook ,(who is said to have discovered Australia), was the first to invent this idea. Up until then we only had two 12 hour periods to make a "day".
03 Mar 12
Originally posted by finneganThere is a certain time in each year in which there is an equal time for
I agree and who could ask for a more specific answer to the question posed?
"...around 127 CE Hipparchus of Niceae, working in the great city of Alexandria, proposed dividing the day into 24 equinoctial hours..."
I did know that it is associated with the capacity to divide 360 into so many convenient fractions with whole numbers for measuring distan ...[text shortened]... cs. Sadly, the Greeks also seem to have got out of touch with numbers since joining the Euro.
daylight and for the dark of night. There you have the division of 12 hours
and 12 hours that total the 24 hours of evening and morning.
03 Mar 12
1 edit
The exact quotes from that site, which is a clear exposition of the whole thing:
around 127 CE Hipparchus of Niceae, working in the great city of Alexandria, proposed dividing the day into 24 equinoctial hours. These equinoctial hours, so called because they are based on the equal length of day and night at the equinox, split the day into equal periods.
The division of time was further refined by another Alexandrian based philosopher, Claudius Ptolemeus, who divided the equinoctial hour into 60 minutes, inspired by the scale of measurement used in ancient Babylon.
The site quotes these sources:
Mapping Time: The Calendar and its History by E. G. Richards, Pub. by Oxford University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-19-286205-7, 438 pages.
General History of Africa II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa, Pub. by James Curry Ltd., University of California Press, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1990, ISBN 0-520-06697-9, 418 pages.
03 Mar 12
1 edit
Originally posted by KewpieThere is another source that is before that that had already divided the day
The exact quotes from that site, which is a clear exposition of the whole thing:
around 127 CE Hipparchus of Niceae, working in the great city of Alexandria, proposed dividing the day into 24 equinoctial hours. These equinoctial hours, so called because they are based on the equal length of day and night at the equinox, split the day into equal periods.
...[text shortened]... Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1990, ISBN 0-520-06697-9, 418 pages.
into equal periods of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of night that I am not
allowed to speak of on this forum.
03 Mar 12
Originally posted by RJHindsIf this is your idea of clear thinking, perhaps you'd better go back to school. The Spirituality Forum is where your kind of reasoning belongs, not in the Science Forum.
There is another source that is before that that had already divided the day
into equal periods of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of night that I am not
allowed to speak of on this forum.
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04 Mar 12
Originally posted by RJHindsWait, what - you're not allowed to speak of the Babylonian Empire?
There is another source that is before that that had already divided the day into equal periods of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of night that I am not allowed to speak of on this forum.
Richard