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Can you imagine how enchanted the ancients felt when they measured the amount of days that the Earth takes to go around the sun? (Well, they would have seen it as the number of days for the sun to return to its exact position.) They would have thought that they had stumbled upon one of the universe's key secrets. Sadly they were wrong.
When they measured the year they came up with 360 days (they were only out by 5.25 days). What would have thrilled them is the amazing qualities of that number. It can be evenly divided by 20 other numbers. That is an incredible amount! They are:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 36, 40, 45, 60, 72, 90, 120, 180
Compare that with the paltry 7 that can divide the number 100:
2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50
The binary arithmetic that our computers use is worse. One byte (256) has only 7 divisors, and they are all only even numbers:
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128
The ancient mathematicians would have been convinced that a year of 360 days was evidence of some deeper design behind the universe. It is a pity they didn't get it right. We might have been saved the error of astrology and the weirdness of measuring 360 degrees in a circle. Still, it must have been awe-inspiring to believe you had touched the "grand meaning".
When they measured the year they came up with 360 days (they were only out by 5.25 days). What would have thrilled them is the amazing qualities of that number. It can be evenly divided by 20 other numbers. That is an incredible amount! They are:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 36, 40, 45, 60, 72, 90, 120, 180
Compare that with the paltry 7 that can divide the number 100:
2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50
The binary arithmetic that our computers use is worse. One byte (256) has only 7 divisors, and they are all only even numbers:
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128
The ancient mathematicians would have been convinced that a year of 360 days was evidence of some deeper design behind the universe. It is a pity they didn't get it right. We might have been saved the error of astrology and the weirdness of measuring 360 degrees in a circle. Still, it must have been awe-inspiring to believe you had touched the "grand meaning".