## Metadata - Author: [[Steven Strogatz]] - Full Title: The Joy of X - Category: #books ## Highlights - The eminent linguistic philosopher J. L. Austin of Oxford once gave a lecture in which he asserted that there are many languages in which a double negative makes a positive but none in which a double positive makes a negative—to which the Columbia philosopher Sidney Morgenbesser, sitting in the audience, sarcastically replied, “Yeah, yeah.” ) ([Location 204](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B006R8PL7G&location=204)) - The Babylonians were not nearly as attached to their fingers. Their numeral system was based on 60—a clear sign of their impeccable taste, for 60 is an exceptionally pleasant number. Its beauty is intrinsic and has nothing to do with human appendages. Sixty is the smallest number that can be divided evenly by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. And that’s just for starters (there’s also 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30). Because of its promiscuous divisibility, 60 is much more congenial than 10 for any sort of calculation or measurement that involves cutting things into equal parts. When we divide an hour into 60 minutes, or a minute into 60 seconds, or a full circle into 360 degrees, we’re channeling the sages of ancient Babylon. ([Location 391](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B006R8PL7G&location=391)) - With place-value systems, you can program a machine to do arithmetic. From the early days of mechanical calculators to the supercomputers of today, the automation of arithmetic was made possible by the beautiful idea of place value. ([Location 416](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B006R8PL7G&location=416))