We use the term "mean" to describe the time shown by man-made chronometers. I suggest that this is an incorrect use of the English word (and an incorrect use of words in other languages which have the same meaning as 'mean' has in English). I think the proper word is "average." I say this because I think that the average time it takes the earth to rotate each day beneath the sun from one point in its orbit to the same point approximately a year later is 24 hours, and that the mean of the times it takes the earth to so rotate is not relevant to a determination of the length of a day. Is my thinking correct or incorrect? Thanks.
George
