Just watch the show "Bones" on Weds. at 8pm. (FOX). The show is based on the series of books and the main character (Temperance Brennen) works at the Jeffersonian in DC (a fictional Smithsonian-type of institution) where she solves crimes with her FBI partner Seely Booth. The show is a lot of fun and does indeed, make use of metric.
Phil On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 11:19 AM, James Frysinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > Paul Trusten wrote: > >> Tempe Brennan? Does this take place in Arizona? >> > > No. That's the name of a person, not a place. > > Does the reference to the inch mean that the book's audience is limited to >> the U.S.? >> > > I have no idea what was in the author's mind when she wrote this book, or > her other 10 books in this series. She writes in English, I'm sure, but with > a lot of French thrown in. The author, like her main character, also works > as a forensic consultant in Montreal. The dust jacket on this novel claims > her books have been translated into something like 30 languages. If they > have a library in your town, you could borrow a copy of this novel, or one > of her others, and decide this issue for yourself. > > I think the author neutralizes her respect for the CGPM by giving primacy >> to the inch in her narrative. She is still saying that inch-pound should be >> the standard of measurement. >> > > Well, that's kind of a "glass half empty" view in my opinion, Paul. Do you > have a mystery novel in mind, one whose author also uses micrometers instead > of microns and cites the CGPM's ruling to support that? Without mentioning > inches, of course. If so, I'll ask Reichs to send the gold medal that I gave > her to your author. > > I have a confession to make. Just yesterday I told somebody that a meter > was "a wee bit larger than a yard". Gee, do you think I'm non-metric in my > thinking? Or do you suppose I was trying to help them visualize the size of > a meter? > > And, why the "Intergalactic" council? Is this a futuristic story? If so, >> gosh, hasn't the U.S. gone metric by, let's say, 2200? >> > > This is an example of hyperbole, a device used in speech and literature to > convey humor. Humor is nice because it eases tensions and can facilitate > learning. I have used this technique in my lectures on physics with good > results. I think this was actually a nice touch. It would have been tedious > and off-putting for her to be utterly factual about the level of CGPM's > authority. Would you also have her cite, in this mystery novel, the session > and resolution numbers for that CGPM ruling? > > As we see folks move towards using the metric system, we might be better > off lauding their progress instead of railing at their failure to achieve > perfection in this art that is new to them. Here's a new adage for > consideration: "Pedants perform poorly as proponents." > > Jim > > > >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Frysinger" < >> [EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> >> Sent: 08 October, 2008 08:38 >> Subject: [USMA:41812] Mystery writer plugs CGPM >> >> >> I just finished the novel _Devil Bones_ written by Kathy Reichs. She's a >>> board-certified forensic anthropologist and a co-producer of the TV show >>> "Bones" (runs on USA and Fox). She is also past Vice President of the >>> American Academy of Forensic Scientists. >>> >>> At one point her main character, Tempe Brennan, describes the thin >>> section she is going to slice from a femur. >>> >>> "Using a very sharp diamond blade, you cut cross-sectional slices of bone >>> measuring one hundred microns in thickness. Or, at least they used to. The >>> micron was officially abolished in 1967 by the CGPM, the intergalactic >>> council on weights and measures. The micron is now the micrometer. No >>> matter. The little bugger is still .00004 of an inch. That's why the slices >>> are called thin sections." [page 118] >>> >>> Now, I could fault Reichs for not putting a leading zero before the >>> decimal point. And, in an ideal world, she would not have felt obliged to >>> give an equivalent in inches. But she did a good thing and a great thing. >>> She recognized that the unit name should be micrometer. I wish that Science >>> magazine (AAAS) was up to speed on that issue. Amazingly, though, she not >>> only knows about the CGPM and this particular ruling, she also cited it in >>> the novel! >>> >>> In the novel Reichs also spells out "degrees Celsius" at one point. >>> Recently I chided another author of novels in this genre, Patricia Cornwell, >>> for using "degrees centigrade". >>> >>> What a bonanza in a great mystery novel -- micrometers instead of >>> microns. And a plug for CGPM to boot! >>> >>> Jim >>> >>> -- >>> James R. Frysinger >>> 632 Stony Point Mountain Road >>> Doyle, TN 38559-3030 >>> >>> (H) 931.657.3107 >>> (C) 931.212.0267 >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> > -- > James R. Frysinger > 632 Stony Point Mountain Road > Doyle, TN 38559-3030 > > (H) 931.657.3107 > (C) 931.212.0267 > >
