Fun little snippet of history =), but something that seems to get missed often in time-keeping is that 12, 24, and 60 are not accidental, they're used for a good reason - they're highly divisible numbers.
12 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6
24 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12
60 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30
Compare that to
10 (divisible by 2, 5) and
100 (divisible by 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50),
and you start to see the problem. You can't split a 10 hour day into quarters without a decimal, and you can't split a 10 hour day into thirds without an infinite decimal or a fraction.
"
But in 1793, the French smashed the old clock in favor of French Revolutionary Time: a 10-hour day, with 100 minutes per hour, and 100 seconds per minute. This thoroughly modern system had a few practical benefits, chief among them being a simplified way to do time-related math...
"
isn't really true. Sub-dividing days and hours into smaller, equal pieces is a critical part of time-keeping, and it really isn't simpler with 10 and 100.
12 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6
24 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12
60 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30
Compare that to
10 (divisible by 2, 5) and
100 (divisible by 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50),
and you start to see the problem. You can't split a 10 hour day into quarters without a decimal, and you can't split a 10 hour day into thirds without an infinite decimal or a fraction.
"
But in 1793, the French smashed the old clock in favor of French Revolutionary Time: a 10-hour day, with 100 minutes per hour, and 100 seconds per minute. This thoroughly modern system had a few practical benefits, chief among them being a simplified way to do time-related math...
"
isn't really true. Sub-dividing days and hours into smaller, equal pieces is a critical part of time-keeping, and it really isn't simpler with 10 and 100.