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Why We Should Switch To A Base-12 Counting System (http://io9.com/5977095/whywe-should-switch-to-a-base-12-counting-system)

George Dvorsky (http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)
(http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

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Filed to: DAILY EXPLAINER (/TAG/DAILY-EXPLAINER) 1/18/13 11:36am (http://io9.com/5977095/why-we-should-switch-to-a-base-12-counting-system)

Humans,forthemostpart,countinchunksof10that'sthefoundationofthedecimalsystem.Despiteitsnearuniversaladoption,
however,it'sacompletelyarbitrarynumberingsystemthatemergedforoneverysimplereason:Wehavefivefingersoneachhand.Butas
manymathematiciansliketopointout,base10isnotwithoutitsproblems.Thenumber12,theyargue,iswhereit'sreallyat.Here'swhy
weshouldhaveadoptedabase12countingsystemandhowwecouldstillmakeitwork.
Indeed,it'sregrettablethatwefailedtoevolveanidealsetoffingerstohelpuscomeupwithnumberingsystemsuitableforcountingand
calculating.Instead,withour10fingers,wearestuckwiththeclunkydecimalsystem.
Takingacloserlookatbase10,wecanseehowfrustratinglylimiteditreallyis.Tenhasapaltrytwofactors(adivisorthatproduceswhole
numbers),namely5and2.Moreover,thesenumbersarenotveryusefulinandofthemselves5isaprimenumberthatcannotdivideany
further,and2isafrustratinglysmallintegertoworkwith.
Defendersofbase10highlightitsabilitytoallowforthemovingoffractionpointsaftermultiplicationordivisionbutthat'snotatrait
exclusivetobase10.It'snottennessthatallowsforthisproperty.Moreaccurately,it'sacharacteristicthatbelongstoallbasesa
propertyoftheplacevaluenotationweuseforexpressingnumbers,alongwithasymbolforzero.

Interestingly,base10isnotuniversalacrosshumansocieties.TheMayanswereknowntouseabase20system(http://www
history.mcs.stand.ac.uk/HistTopics/Mayan_mathematics.html),andtheBabyloniansdevelopedasystemusingsetsof60(http://www
history.mcs.stand.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_numerals.html).Base8andbase16(thehexadecimalsystem)havealsobeenused,
mostlyforcomputationalreasons(quartersandeighthsaresimplified).
Butthesealternativesetsarestillnotidealfordaytoday,humanapplications.Base20isnotgreatforfingercountingmanyofuswear
shoeswhenwe'redoingmath,norcanwemoveourtoeswithanykindofdexterity.Base8issimplytoosmall,andbase16andbase60
aretoounwieldy.
Luckily,there'sabasethatsitsinbetweentheseanumberingsystemthathasaplethoraofcharacteristicsthatsimplymakeitthebest
choiceforcountingandcalculating.

Introducing the Dozenal System

Alsocalledtheduodecimalsystem,the"dozenal"systemwasinitiallypopularizedinthe17thcenturywhenmathematiciansbeganto
recognizethelimitationsofbase10.

Later,duringthe1930s,F.EmersonAndrewspublishedabook,NewNumbers:HowAcceptanceofaDuodecimalBaseWouldSimplify
Mathematics(http://books.google.ca/books/about/New_numbers.html?id=zfXuAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y),inwhichhecogently
arguedforthechange.Henoticedthat,duetothemyriadoccurrencesof12inmanytraditionalunitsofweightandmeasures,manyofthe
advantagesclaimedforthemetricsystemcouldalsobeadoptedbythedozenalsystem.
Indeed,examplesofbase12systemsabound.Acarpenter'srulerhas12subdivisions,grocersdealindozensandgrosses(12dozenequalsa
gross),pharmacistsandjewelersusethe12ouncepound,andmintersdivideshillingsinto12pence.Evenourtiminganddatingsystem
dependsonitthereare12monthsintheyear,andourdayismeasuredin2setsof12.Additionally,ingeometry,acircleisrepletewith
subsetsandsupersetsof12what'smeasuredindegrees(a360degreecircleconsistsof30setsof12).
It'salsoobviousthatsomeoneinourhistorywasthinkingalongtheselines.It'sthelargestnumberwithasinglemorphemenamein
English(i.e.theword"twelve").Afterthat,wehitthirteen,fourteen,fifteen,andsoonderivativesofthree,fourandfive.Clearly,itwas
naturaltothinkintermsofdozens.

ThreedecadesafterAndrews'sbook,thebrilliantmathematicianA.C.Aitken(http://wwwhistory.mcs.st
and.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Aitken.html)madeasimilarcase.WritinginTheListenin1962,henoted:

Theduodecimaltablesareeasytomaster,easierthanthedecimalonesandinelementaryteachingtheywouldbesomuchmore
interesting,sinceyoungchildrenwouldfindmorefascinatingthingstodowithtwelverodsorblocksthanwithten.Anyone
havingthesetablesatcommandwilldothesecalculationsmorethanoneandahalftimesasfastintheduodecimalscaleasin
thedecimal.ThisismyexperienceIamcertainthatevenmoresoitwouldbetheexperienceofothers.

SincethetimeofAndrewsandAitken,thedozenalmovementhasgarneredanumberofenthusiasticsupporters,includingtheadventof
theDozenalSocietyofAmerica(http://www.dozenal.org)andtheDozenalSocietyofGreatBritain(http://www.dozenalsociety.org.uk/).
Thebasicargumentfromthesesocalleddozenalistsisthatitmakesmathematicseasiertoconceptualizeandunderstand,especiallyfor
childrenandstudents.Here'swhythey'reright.

It's All About the Factors

Firstandforemost,12isahighlycompositenumberthesmallestnumberwithexactlyfourdivisors:2,3,4,and6(sixifyoucount1and
12).Asnoted,10hasonlytwo.Consequently,12ismuchmorepracticalwhenusingfractionsit'seasiertodivideunitsofweightsand
measuresinto12parts,namelyhalves,thirds,andquarters.
Moreover,withbase12,wecanusethesethreemostcommonfractionswithouthavingtoemployfractionalnotations.Thenumbers6,4,
and3areallwholenumbers.Ontheotherhand,withbase10,wehavetodealwithunwieldydecimals,=0.5,=0.25,andworstof
all,thehighlyproblematic=0.333333333333333333333.
Andsimilartothebase16hexadecimalsystem,thedozenalsystemisexceptionallyfriendlytocomputerscience.Thenumber12hastwo
factorsthatareprimenumbers,2and3.Thismeansthatthereciprocalsofallsmoothnumbers(anumberwhichfactorscompletelyinto
smallprimenumbers),suchas2,3,4,6,7,8,haveaterminatingrepresentationinduodecimal(we'llgettocountinginduodecimalinjust
abit).Twelvejusthappenstobethesmallestnumberwiththisfeature,thusmakingitanextremelyefficientnumberforencryption
purposesandforcomputingfractionsandthisincludesthedecimal,vigesimal,binary,octal,andhexadecimalsystems.

Interestingly,thedozenalsystemwouldalsomakeiteasiertotelltime.Fiveminutesisa12thofanhour,soinsteadofsaying"fivepast
one,"wecouldsay"oneandatwelfth"hours.Tenpastonewouldbe12,aquarterpastone13,andsoon(thesymbol""isusedasthe
fractionalpoint).
Butthiswouldrequireanewclock.Forittowork,boththehourhandandtheminutehandwouldpointtotheprecisetime.Inthe
conventionaldecimalclock,theminutehandawkwardlypointstoanumberthathastobemultipliedbyfive.

Notation and Pronunciation

Asyoulookatthegraphicoftheclocktoyouraboveleft,you'reprobablywonderingwhatthosefunnysymbolsandwordsare.That's
because,forabase12towork,weneedtoaddtwonewsymbolsfor11and12(remember,thesearerepresentationsofnumbers,andare
notalphabeticthenumber12isderivedfromhavingonecompletesetof10(hencethe1inthefirstcolumn),andanadditionalnumber2
inthesecondcolumntodenotetwoadditionalincrements).
Recognizingtheadvantagesofabase12system,Andrewsdesignedanewnotationtoaccountfortwonewnumbers.Insteadofusing"A"
and"B"for10and11(asperthehexadecimalsystem),AndrewssuggestedascriptX(U+1D4B3)andE(U+2130),with10duodecimal
representing12decimal.Sothefirst12numberswouldlooklike1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,X,E,10.

Othershavesuggestedthat10couldbewrittenas"T"andthenumbereleven"E."MathematicianIsaacPitmanwantedtousearotated"2"
fortenandareversed"3"foreleven(aspertheclockabove).Otherschemasuse"*"for10and"#"for11(whichisphoneandcomputer
keyboardfriendly).
Forfractions,thedecimal0.5wouldbewritteninduodecimalas06(remember,ahalfof10isdifferentthanahalfof12).
Ifthisisconfusing,youcanalwaysusethedozenal/decimalcalculator(http://flud.org/dozenalcalc.html).
Fornumbersthatgobeyond12,wewouldaddaprefixtothevaluedenotingthenumberofsets.So,forthenumbers13,14,and15,we'd
write11,12,and13.Andforthenumbers22,23,and24,we'dwrite1X,1E,and20.
Intermsofpronunciation,DonaldP.Goodman,presidentoftheDozenalSocietyofAmerica,saysthatXshouldbecalled"ten",Ecalled
"elv"and10pronounced"unqua."So,whencounting,we'dsay,"...eight,nine,tenelv,unqua."

Interestingly,inthe1973episode"LittleTwelvetoes"oftheSchoolhouseRock!televisionseries,analienchildusesabase12systemand
pronouncesthelastthreenumbers"dek,""el"and"doh.""Dek"wasderivedfromtheprefix"deca",while"el"wasshortfor"eleven,"and
"doh"ashorteningof"dozen."Manydozenalistshaveadoptedthisparticularpronunciationsystem.
Now,topronouncenumbersgreaterthan12,likeduodecimal15,wewouldsaydohfive,whichisacompoundofdoh,whichistwelve,and
five.Wecanextendthisforothernumberssuchasduodecimal64,whichwouldbepronouncedassixdohfour.Ifweweretoreachand
surpassthenumberEE,(eldohel),weneedanewwordforthedigitsinthethirdcolumnover.
Thewordfor144decimal,or100dozenal,iscalled"gros"(thes'issilent)So,athreedigitdozenalnumber,suchas25X,wouldbe
pronouncedas"twogrosfivedohdek."Indecimal,thisnumberis358.

Counting Fingers
Criticsofthedozenalsystemsaythatitwouldunderminethebenefitsoffingercounting.

Butasdozenalistsarehappytopointout,eachfingerconsistsofthreeparts.So,startingwiththeindexfinger,andusingthethumbasa
pointer,wecanimmediatelydenotethefirstthreedigits(workingourwayfrombottomtothetopofthefinger).Then,themiddlefinger
candenote4,5,6,themiddlefinger,7,8,9,andsoon.Usingthissystem,ourtwohandsgivesusatotalof24numberstoworkwith.Some
fingercountersworktheirwayfromlefttoright,designatingthetipsoftheirfingers1,2,3,4.
Evenbetter,wecanuseoursecondhandtodisplaythenumberofcompletedbase12's.Consequently,wecanuseourfingerstogoupto
144(12x12).
Forexample,ifyoutakethethumbofyourlefthandandplaceitonthemiddlejointofyourmiddlefinger(whichisthe5thbase12,
equalling60decimal),andyoudothesameonyourrighthand(whichsignifiesthe5thincrement),wegetthenumber65decimal.

Could We Ever Switch Over?

Unfortunately,convertingtothedozenalsystematthispointwouldbeexceptionallydifficult,andoverthetopexpensive.Whilethelong
termbenefitsareobvious,it'sprobablynotworththeshorttermpain.Butthatsaid,livingwithasuboptimalcountingsystemfromhereto
eternityseemssad.
Thatsaid,dozenalistslikeDonaldGoodmansayit'snotcompletelyimpossible.Hearguesthatconvertingthecurrencywouldbethefirst
andmostcrucialstep,followedbyanorganizededucationcampaignonthematterintheschools(Asanaside,andinregardstothislast
step,thisisexactlyhowthemetricsystemwaspopularizedandtaughtinCanadaIvividlyrememberthedaywhen,asachild,ourteacher
cameinandsaid,"Kids,fromhereonin,it'sthemetricsystemnoexceptions").
Goodmanisskeptical,however,thatanyoneprocedurecouldworkeverywhere,suggestingthatitwouldhavetobetailoredtolocal
circumstances.
"Mostdozenalistsbelievethatweshouldletdozenalsspeakforthemselves,"hetoldtheGuardian
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alexsadventuresinnumberland/2012/dec/12/dozenalistsworldunitetyrannyten)."Astimegoes
on,andasmorepeoplelearnaboutdozenals,morepeoplewillusethemafterawhile,peoplewon'twanttousedecimalsanymore."No
official,topdownchangeisreallyneeded,heargues,exceptforthingslikemoneyandlegalrecognitionfordozenalmeasurementsystems.
So,whatdoyouthink?Hasthetimecomeforthedozenalsystem?
SpecialthankstoCalvinDvorskyforhelpingmewritethisarticle!
Sources:DozenalSocietyofGreatBritain(http://www.dozenalsociety.org.uk/),DozenalSocietyofAmerica
(http://www.dozenal.org/articles/articles.html),TheGuardian(http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/alexsadventuresin
numberland/2012/dec/12/dozenalistsworldunitetyrannyten).
Images:Shutterstock/ArtisticPhoto,Guardian,gorpub(http://gorpub.freeshell.org/dozenal/blosxom.cgi/compbase.html).
Like

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George Dvorskys Discussions (http://io9.com/5977095/why-we-should-switch-to-a-base-12-counting-system)

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All replies (http://io9.com/5977095/why-we-should-switch-to-a-base-12-counting-system/all)

George Dvorsky (http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

(http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

1/18/13 11:42am (http://io9.com/gonna-date-myself-here-and-mention-that-i-actually-reme-263239238)

GonnadatemyselfhereandmentionthatIactuallyrememberwatchingthatSchoolhouseRock!episode.ThoughIstruggledto
understandit.
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Jakob Pfender (http://norknork.kinja.com)

(http://norknork.kinja.com)

1/18/13 11:59am (http://io9.com/mr-dvorsky-i-do-enjoy-your-articles-however-someth-263239669)

Mr.Dvorsky,Idoenjoyyourarticleshowever,somethingkeepsbuggingme.Yourconstantuseofdashesit'sfranklyirritating.
Youkeeprippingyoursentencesapartthat'snotverynice.Inoticedthisawhilebackhaven'tbeenabletounnoticeitsince.This
isnotmeantasaseriouscriticismjusttoannoythehelloutofotherOCD'swhowillnowhavepainsreadingyourarticles.Keepup
yourgoodworkit'sappreciated.
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George Dvorsky (http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

(http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

1/18/13 12:20pm (http://io9.com/point-taken-i-do-loves-me-my-dashes-but-it-often-se-263240310)

Pointtaken.Idolovesmemydashesbutitoftenservestoaccentuateadramaticpoint.I'lltrytoscaleback:)
6

tech2120 (http://tech2120.kinja.com)
(http://tech2120.kinja.com)

1/18/13 11:55am (http://io9.com/first-and-foremost-12-is-a-highly-composite-number-263239547)

"Firstandforemost,12isahighlycompositenumberthesmallestnumberwithexactlysixdivisors:2,3,4,and6.Asnoted,10has
onlytwo."

Wouldn't2,3,4,and6makefourdivisors?It'sonlysixifyoucount1and12,butthen10wouldhavefourdivisorsinsteadoftwo.
#corrections

Reply

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George Dvorsky (http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

(http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

1/18/13 12:25pm (http://io9.com/fixed-but-i-made-a-note-that-technically-it-is-six-i-263240549)

Fixed,butImadeanotethattechnicallyit*is*sixifyoucount1anditself.
2

KenCole (http://kencole.kinja.com)
(http://kencole.kinja.com)

1/18/13 11:44am (http://io9.com/so-the-widely-used-in-computer-science-base-16-is-sum-263239247)

Sothewidelyused(incomputerscience)base16issummarilydismissedwithtwowords:"toounwieldy".Whatdoesthateven
mean?Igetthatthereareadvantagestobase12thatbase16doesn'tshare,butthereverseisalsotrue.Surelybase16deservesmore
thanatwoworddismissal?
/No,IwillnotstopcallingyouShirley
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George Dvorsky (http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

(http://georgedvorsky.kinja.com)

1/18/13 12:27pm (http://io9.com/its-not-great-for-human-applications-like-counting-and-263240581)

It'snotgreatforhumanapplications,likecountingandcalculatinginourheads.
1

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