I like this one a lot better.
Spherical Cows by Robin Shelton and J. Allie Cliffe When scientists refer to a spherical cow, we are poking fun at ourselves. We are admitting that some of our models or descriptions of things are far more simple than the actual object, like to say that a cow has a spherical shape. The phenomena we study are often complex, and including too many details can hinder, rather than help our understanding. Often it is useful to study a simplified model which contains only the most important general characteristics. Such a model can be more easily studied using numerical or analytical methods and then compared to observations. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Price, Edward Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:17 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Cables On The Floor > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of John Woodgate > Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:21 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Cables On The Floor > > In message > <9d04b979323dcd428297dda95108893e0120c...@bb-corp-ex2.corp.cubic.cub>, > dated Tue, 9 Dec 2008, "Price, Edward" <[email protected]> writes: > > >You would think that the odds of stepping on the cable would > be 285 to 1. > > You might, initially, but think about this. To make the math > easier, assume a square room and 289 footprints (17^2). So > there are 24 footprints along a diagonal. Lay a cable along > that diagonal, and all 24 footprints cover it, to a greater > or lesser extent. Then there are 23 new footprints along the > other diagonal, then 15 new ones along each side... So with 6 > cables we have 107 footprints on them, out of 289. > > Admittedly, this includes 'spherical cow' type > approximations, but it shows a trend. > -- > John Woodgate, J M Woodgate and Associates, Rayleigh, Essex UK I'll defer to your logic, as I was sick the day they explained combinations and permutations to us. BTW, I'm almost afraid to ask, but what's a "spherical cow"? I think that might great to be able to authoritatively cite that in my next lab status report! Ed Price [email protected] WB6WSN NARTE Certified EMC Engineer Electromagnetic Compatibility Lab Cubic Defense Applications San Diego, CA USA 858-505-2780 Military & Avionics EMC Is Our Specialty - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]> _________________________ LECO Corporation Notice: This communication may contain confidential information intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you received this by mistake, please destroy it and notify us of the error. Thank you. - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]>
