Bernard Hill writes: | In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, John Chambers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes | > But if you measure it in, say, attoparsecs, | > this is the definition of a parsec (and of the atto- prefix)." | | Love it! 1 attoparsec is approx 3.1cm or 1.2" ... as everyone knows <g>
One of my favorite "weird unit" stories was from an American astronomer who also liked to cook. He said that he liked to write out recipes using the cubic attoparsec as a unit of volume. It turns out that 1 aPc^3 is about 0.998 fluid ounce, close enough that in a recipe it makes no difference. It takes no longer to write than "fl.oz.". And nobody outside the US has any idea what a fluid ounce is, while parsec is a standard unit that you'll find in any physical reference book. So this makes his recipes usable by anyone, not just Americans. OTOH, I've heard musicians of the British persuasion refer to minims and crotchets and semidemiquavers. Not one in a thousand American musicians could tell you what those terms actually mean. To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
