Definition:Minute of Time/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Minute of Time
The division of the hour into $60$ subdivisions originated some undecidable time in the Middle Ages, using the same sexagesimal (base $60$) system that was used to subdivide degrees of angle.
These systems of division of time and angle are the last system of measurements which have not been decimalised.
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $60$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $60$
- 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $1$: Tokens, Tallies and Tablets: The first numerals