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Groups > rec.arts.sf.written > #424219
| Newsgroups | rec.arts.sf.written, sci.physics |
|---|---|
| From | djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) |
| Subject | Re: green stars |
| Message-ID | <nvs1sF.yMJ@kithrup.com> (permalink) |
| Date | 2015-10-06 02:33 +0000 |
| References | <560E3D7D.3AA6@ix.netcom.com> <561313c8$0$1658$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net> <nvrxvo.qrs@kithrup.com> <MPG.307cfa28601fd2fd989b99@news.eternal-september.org> |
| Organization | Kithrup Enterprises, Ld. |
Cross-posted to 2 groups.
In article <MPG.307cfa28601fd2fd989b99@news.eternal-september.org>, J. Clarke <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> wrote: >In article <nvrxvo.qrs@kithrup.com>, djheydt@kithrup.com says... >> >> In article <561313c8$0$1658$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>, >> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote: >> >On 10/5/2015 6:02 AM, jmfbahciv wrote: >> >> Dorothy J Heydt wrote: >> >>> In article <PM00052148602F2733@aca41f97.ipt.aol.com>, >> >>> jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> wrote: >> >>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote: >> >>>>> In article <mur018$5ei$1@panix3.panix.com>, >> >>>>> William December Starr <wdstarr@panix.com> wrote: >> >>>>>> In article <nvnzI5.15Dv@kithrup.com>, >> >>>>>> djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) said: >> >>>>>> >> >>>>>>> I managed to get an A in my one physics course (Physics 10, aka >> >>>>>>> Bonehead Physics), but I do not understand anything past Newton. >> >>>>>>> I haven't had to. I take it on faith. >> >>>>>> >> >>>>>> Did you drop a '1' off the end of that, or was the course really >> >>>>>> "Physics [ten]?" >> >>>>> >> >>>>> Yes. >> >>>>> >> >>>>> Its official title, I think, was "physics for Humanities Majors". >> >>>>> Everybody enrolled in the College of Letters and Sciences, who >> >>>>> wasn't actually majoring in a science, had to take it. In a >> >>>>> similar way, those majoring in math or sciences, if they couldn't >> >>>>> pass a basic entrance exam in written English (in which case >> >>>>> they'd take the standard lower-division English courses like the >> >>>>> rest of us) would take English 10, which of course was called >> >>>>> Bonehead English. >> >>>>> >> >>>>> Mind you, this was nearly sixty years ago; I don't know what they >> >>>>> do now. >> >>>>> >> >>>> When I went to college, we were required to take an Honors Physics >> >>>> course which was real physics without using calculus. The art >> >>>> majors were not interested in the course until they figured out >> >>>> it helped them with their art which was mostly drawing and >> >>>> painting. >> >>> >> >>> We did not, thank heaven, have to use calculus. Just algebra. >> >>> At which I was not very good either. >> >>> >> >>> I know I've told this story before, but it's been a while. If >> >>> you remember it from last time, hit 'n' now. >> >>> >> >>> I was living in a rooming house where we did our own cooking. >> >>> There was a kitchen on the ground floor and another (small) >> >>> kitchen on the third floor, where I lived. One of my housemates >> >>> was not only taking Physics 10 when I was, but we had the same >> >>> section with the same TA. So we got the same problem sets, which >> >>> the TA handed out at the Tuesday section and got back at the >> >>> Thursday section. >> >>> >> >>> So every Wednesday evening she and I would settle down in the >> >>> third-floor kitchen and do the problem sets. She had, and knew >> >>> how to use, a slide rule. I didn't. >> >>> >> >>> So we would both read the problem, and I would set up the >> >>> equation, and she would solve it with her slide rule. We would >> >>> thus have exactly the same answers on our problem sets, and get >> >>> the same grades on them. We got some credit toward our final >> >>> grade from the problem sets, more from the midterm, and a lot >> >>> more from the final. >> >>> >> >>> Came the final, and we were put into a much larger room than we'd >> >>> taken the class in, so we could be separated from one another by >> >>> several seats; standard procedure. Memory tells me now that >> >>> there were several hundred problems to solve; it was probably >> >>> more like 100. And there I sat, with no slide rule, just basic >> >>> arithmetic, at which I have always stunk. (And there were no >> >>> electronic calculators, back in the early 1950s.) >> >>> >> >>> After a moment of despair, I reasoned, "Well, this is a physics >> >>> class, not a math class, so if I set up all the equations and >> >>> then solve as many as there's time for by brute force and scratch >> >>> paper, I'll get at least partial credit." So I did that. >> >> >> >> That's how engineers do it :-). Crunching numbers is left >> >> as an exercise for computers. I always thought that computers >> >> were invented so engineers didn't have to do arithmetic. ;-) >> >> >> >No, the ORIGINAL computers were kept around because the male engineers >> >liked having pretty girls to look at and hit on. >> >> You mean, like, Grace Hopper? > >Grace Hopper built computers, she wasn't one herself. Oh, I see, you're using "computer" meaning "the person who does calculations." E. E. Smith used that too, only his computers were all guys. -- Dorothy J. Heydt Vallejo, California djheydt at gmail dot com Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress. Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.
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green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-02 01:17 -0700
Re: green stars Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2015-10-02 14:40 -0400
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-02 22:18 +0000
Re: green stars Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 16:02 -0700
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 02:29 +0000
Re: green stars Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 22:29 -0700
Re: green stars Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> - 2015-10-03 23:49 -0300
Re: green stars "Mike Dworetsky" <platinum198@pants.btinternet.com> - 2015-10-04 08:48 +0100
Re: green stars Cryptoengineer <treifamily@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 11:07 -0500
Re: green stars "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-10-04 12:50 -0400
Re: green stars Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 10:54 -0700
Re: green stars "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 13:21 -0400
Re: green stars Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-04 11:15 -0600
Re: green stars Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.con> - 2015-10-05 13:39 -0700
Re: green stars Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-10-08 20:27 -0700
Re: green stars Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-09 00:08 -0600
Re: green stars "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-09 04:54 -0400
Re: green stars William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-09 13:09 -0400
Re: green stars petertrei@gmail.com - 2015-10-09 10:16 -0700
Re: green stars scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2015-10-09 18:20 +0000
Re: green stars "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-09 19:28 -0400
Re: green stars wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-09 21:05 -0400
Re: green stars "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2015-10-09 21:42 -0400
Re: green stars "John F. Eldredge" <john@jfeldredge.com> - 2015-10-10 16:55 +0000
Re: green stars "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2015-10-04 09:27 -0400
Re: green stars William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 16:45 -0400
Re: green stars Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2015-10-03 17:40 -0400
Re: green stars Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 14:51 -0700
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 21:54 +0000
Re: green stars Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 17:24 -0700
Re: green stars wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-04 06:46 -0400
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 13:15 +0000
Re: green stars jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-10-04 14:27 +0000
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 16:53 +0000
Re: green stars jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-10-05 13:02 +0000
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-05 14:39 +0000
Re: green stars jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-10-06 13:34 +0000
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-06 14:24 +0000
Re: green stars jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-10-07 13:18 +0000
Re: green stars Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2015-10-07 19:27 -0400
Re: green stars "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-10-07 19:43 -0400
Re: green stars Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-08 01:58 -0600
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-08 01:11 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-08 13:49 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-08 21:20 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-09 22:04 -0700
Re: green stars Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-10-10 11:49 -0700
Re: green stars hamish.laws@gmail.com - 2015-12-05 02:32 -0800
Re: green stars wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-08 08:19 -0400
Re: green stars Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-09 00:10 -0600
Re: green stars William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-09 13:19 -0400
Re: green stars wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-09 21:27 -0400
Re: green stars Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-10 20:12 -0600
Re: green stars hamish.laws@gmail.com - 2015-12-05 02:22 -0800
Re: green stars Cryptoengineer <treifamily@gmail.com> - 2015-12-05 10:52 -0600
Re: green stars Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-12-05 10:42 -0700
Re: green stars "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-12-05 13:02 -0500
Re: green stars Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-12-05 11:33 -0800
Re: green stars Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-12-05 15:00 -0800
Re: green stars Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-12-06 01:56 -0700
Re: green stars Lofty Goat <rlwatkins@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 19:08 -0500
Re: green stars Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-05 17:20 -0700
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-06 01:09 +0000
Re: green stars "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 22:21 -0400
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-06 02:33 +0000
Re: green stars "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 23:03 -0400
Re: green stars Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-05 22:03 -0700
Re: green stars Wayne Brown <fwbrown@bellsouth.net> - 2015-10-08 19:38 +0000
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-08 22:19 +0000
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-08 16:14 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-08 16:16 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-08 19:33 -0700
Re: green stars "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-08 21:36 -0400
Re: green stars djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-09 04:19 +0000
Re: green stars Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-10-08 22:51 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-09 11:12 -0700
Re: green stars scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2015-10-09 14:05 +0000
Re: green stars "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-08 18:57 -0400
Re: green stars jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-10-06 13:34 +0000
Re: green stars Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 10:57 -0700
Re: green stars "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-10-04 10:41 -0400
Re: green stars wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-04 13:43 -0400
Re: green stars wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-02 22:38 -0400
Re: green stars Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2015-10-03 17:37 -0400
Re: green stars Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 14:52 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-05 01:17 -0700
Re: green stars Yousuf Khan <bbbl67@spammenot.yahoo.com> - 2015-10-05 14:04 -0400
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-05 12:58 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-05 23:52 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-06 10:24 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-06 12:35 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-06 15:15 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-06 15:31 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-06 23:12 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-06 23:34 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-07 00:49 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-08 21:24 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-05 01:39 -0700
Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-05 01:55 -0700
Re: green stars Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-10-08 20:31 -0700
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