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>> > for measuring angles?>

Alex raises an interesting question.

From what I could find, it was actually called Sexagesimal rather than
hexadecimal.  (I suspect I am about to learn something new here from Alex
;-)

Had they been invented in those times grads are harder than degrees to
divide by 24 hrs a day or time.  I am guessing that without good value for
pi, using rads would be out of the question, so it was the logical choice
and we are, like it or not, stuck with that system.

From
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Babylonian%20numerals

Sixty is a composite number with divisors 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20,
30, making it also a highly composite number. Because 60 is the sum of its
unitary divisors (excluding itself), it is a unitary perfect number. And
because it is divisible by the sum of its digits in base 10, it is a Harshad
number. 60 is the smallest number divisible by the numbers 1 to 6. (There is
no smaller number divisible by the numbers 1 to 5).

Sexagesimal numbering is a numeral system with number 60 as the base. It
originated with the ancient Babylonians It was later used in its more modern
form by Arabs during the Umayyad caliphate.

Base 60 has the advantage that its base has a large number of conveniently
sized divisors , facilitating calculations with fractions. Note that 60 is
the smallest number divisible by 1,2,3,4 and 5.

Along the line of " we are by tradition stuck with it" word usage regarding
heavenly bodies.

I rise.  I sit.
I raise it...  I set it...
But a celestial body rises and sets.

The only reason I can find for this is that is the way it is defined!

Bill

   

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