STstewdio·Jan 5, 2016Recommendation phrase
Jon McLoone really seems to be approaching this topic from a place of frustration—rather than from an overwhelming sense of beauty. I think both mathies and visual designers can agree that 12 is a very beautiful number. In fact the ONLY single thing that makes sense about the imperial system is the division of feet into 12 inches, something mirrored by picas and points in typography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(typography)
This beautiful number is evenly divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and itself—a very high percentage (50%!) of the positive integers leading up to and including itself. (To be sure 60 is also a beautiful number but its ratio of factors to non-factors is of course lesser.) I can see you gearing up to argue that 6 is more beautiful, and I get that. I really do. But the ability to evenly divide into quarters is just so ..
Read the rest
. pleasant :)
Does the ability to divide evenly in several ways serve as a soapbox from which to argue that it is mathematically important to memorize the first 12 numbers of which 12 is a factor? I suppose not. But could we simply do 12 the honor of learning these two extra columns of the multiplication table because it is beautiful? (And really you’re just learning ONE extra column because 11 is such a simpleton. Silly 11.)
Of course dividing things into 12 units can SOUND pleasant as well. Western music is founded on dividing an octave into 12 units—though the exact method of division can take many forms. Here’s just a sample:
https://github.com/stewdio/beep.js/blob/master/beep/Beep.Not...
So I love 12. Join me in loving 12. Together we can praise 12.
Full disclosure, I have been known to previously adore the number 12. On December 12, 2012 I proposed this “Cleaner Grid of Time” beginning with the months in a year:
http://stewd.io/b/2012/12/12/twelve