base60numerojärjestelmää

Base60numerojä, often referred to as sexagesimal, is a numeral system with a radix, or base, of 60. This means that instead of using ten distinct digits like our familiar decimal system, base60 uses sixty distinct symbols to represent numbers. Historically, this system was developed and utilized by the ancient Babylonians and Sumerians.

The primary reason for adopting base60 was its high degree of divisibility. The number 60 has many divisors (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60), which made calculations and divisions much simpler in a time before advanced computational tools. This property is particularly useful for fractions and for measuring time and angles.

Our modern systems for measuring time (60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour) and angles (360 degrees in a circle, which is 6 x 60) are direct descendants of Babylonian sexagesimal notation. While we don't typically write numbers in full base60 today, its influence is deeply embedded in these fundamental measurements. The Sumerians and Babylonians used cuneiform symbols to represent their base60 digits, and their positional notation system allowed for representation of very large and very small numbers.