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From: gjphw@ihuxm.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: 12 noon/midnight
Message-ID: <691@ihuxm.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 9-Nov-83 13:57:49 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxm.691
Posted: Wed Nov  9 13:57:49 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 11-Nov-83 01:48:34 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, Il
Lines: 39



   This note is intended to introduce another perspective on the 12
 noon/midnight melee.  It attempts to place the determination of noon and
 midnight within a convention that is consistent with other numbering plans
 (e.g., years).

   In ordinary usage, the natural numbers are used for counting.  When counting
 almost anything, we begin with one (1) and count through ten (10).  With this
 convention, ten is the last number of the first decade.  The first number of
 the second decade is eleven (11).

   Following this convention, there would not be any year designated as zero.
 The first year of any calendar (e.g., Julian) would begin with the year 1.
 Note that this mades the year 2000 the last year of the twentieth century (a
 year of the 1900's).  The twenty-first century begins on Jan. 1, 2001.

   Viewing a clock as merely a mechanism for counting the passage of time, the
 first stroke of the new hour begins at the first moment that the number one
 can be applied.  For example, 12:00 AM is the last member of the counts used
 to record the morning.  Afternoon would begin at 12:01 PM.  This technique
 would also apply to any arbitrary precision you might wish.  If you are
 interested in time to the nearest second, 12:00:00 AM is the last second of
 the morning while 12:00:01 PM is the first second of the afternoon.

   A twenty-four hour clock has been popular with the military and the National
 Bureau of Standards for many years.  Still, in this system, 24:00 is the last
 count of the day and 00:01 is the first minute of the next day.

   If you can recall how to count, there is no ambiguity as to whether or not
 to have lunch at 12:00 AM or 12:00 PM.  Lunch is served at midday, which is
 the last moment of the morning, which is recorded as 12:00 AM.  The next
 moment begins the counting for the afternoon with 12:01 PM.
-- 

                                    Patrick Wyant
                                    AT&T Bell Laboratories (Naperville, IL)
                                    *!ihuxm!gjphw