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Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 03:45:40 +0100
Subject: Re: .split() Qeustion
From: Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
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Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:52616

On Sat, Aug 17, 2013 at 3:38 AM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Fri, 16 Aug 2013 05:27:49 +0000, Dave Angel wrote:
>
>> I figure it just under a foot.  I once attended a lecture by Grace
>> Hopper where she handed out "nanoseconds," pieces of wire about a foot
>> long.
>
> Is that based on the speed of light in a vacuum, speed of light in
> copper, speed of electron drift in copper, speed of sound in copper? Or
> perhaps it was aluminium wire? :-)
>
>> She said that the beaurocrats were always asking how much is a
>> nanosecond, and couldn't imagine what a billionth was like.  So she gave
>> them something physical.
>
> I think a simple analogy that works is: the width of a single human hair
> is a billionth of 100 metres (or yards, for Americans). People can
> visualise 100 metres, and they can visualise a hair.

Further information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper#Anecdotes

It was specifically looking at satellite comms, and it's the speed of
light through a vacuum (the ideal maximum speed of satellite
communication signals). Check the Wiki page's footnotes for reliable
references.

ChrisA