From: "Steve Ewing" 

On Wed, 8 Dec 2004 09:10:51 -0500, Robert Comer
 wrote:

>> base 12-- divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6 (vs. base 10: 2 and 5).
>
> I'm having a hard time believing that would make much difference at
> all...
>
> - Bob Comer

Having read further down the thread (after posting, of course):  as a QM I
did plenty of math in degrees, minutes, and seconds, and hours, minutes,
and seconds.  The 6-times-table is embedded in my brain; as is my anal
double-checking of simple addition and subtraction: so easy to forget to
carry a 60 into the next column as a one.

The worst part from my POV was the "navigation box" problems:
remember the two-train word problems from school?  Same thing: The box
moves along the track at speed X, and you zoom to the front, dawdle until
the rear catches up, then fart around in the middle some.  Oy, oy, oy. 
When they were soliciting input for the tablet-computer decklog (never used
it, myself), one of my recommendations was for a calculator that could
handle such time-speed-distance problems.  Not that the problems are
intrinsically difficult, but in the heat of battle, so to speak, it's so
easy to make a simple mistake and screw yourself.

We even had a circular slide rule for these things:
http://us.binnacle.com:80/online/product.asp?pf%5Fid=29202&dept%5Fid=18067

Wow.  Seventeen bucks.

--
Steve 
http://www.qmss.com/sewing

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