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Re: green stars

Message-ID <5616F969.713B@ix.netcom.com> (permalink)
Date 2015-10-08 16:16 -0700
From The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups rec.arts.sf.written, sci.physics
Subject Re: green stars
References <560E3D7D.3AA6@ix.netcom.com> <nvs1sF.yMJ@kithrup.com> <MPG.307d0427bcf382fa989b9a@news.eternal-september.org> <mv6gnp$5u2$1@dont-email.me> <nvxA13.1BHw@kithrup.com>

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

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Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> 
> In article <mv6gnp$5u2$1@dont-email.me>,
> Wayne Brown  <fwbrown@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> >In rec.arts.sf.written J. Clarke <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> In article <nvs1sF.yMJ@kithrup.com>, djheydt@kithrup.com says...
> >>>
> >>> 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.
> >>
> >> People today don't realize that "computer" used to be a job title.
> >> Although rather than "cute girls", the people I knew who remembered that
> >> era usually described them as "little old ladies in green eyeshades".
> >
> >Here are some of those computers at work:
> >
> >http://creative-automata.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/humancomputer.jpg
> >
> 
> Gosh.  Do you know the date of that photograph?  The hairstyles
> look sort of 1930s, but their skirts reach to the ground.  1910s
> maybe?

1920
http://www.shorpy.com/node/5993?size=_original#caption

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green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-02 01:17 -0700
  Re: green stars Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 08:19 -0500
    Re: green stars john <johnsefton288@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 06:30 -0700
      Re: green stars Odd Bodkin <bodkinodd@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 08:59 -0500
        Re: green stars benj <nobody@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 12:24 -0400
          Re: green stars HVAC <mr.hvac@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 10:19 -0700
        Re: green stars Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2015-10-03 12:14 +0200
  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 Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 17:45 -0500
        Re: green stars Angelo <patrizio.pan-2002@libero.it> - 2015-10-05 08:30 -0700
      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 "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 wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-08 08:19 -0400
                Re: green stars pnalsing@gmail.com - 2015-10-08 08:59 -0700
                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 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 pnalsing@gmail.com - 2015-10-08 17:33 -0700
                Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-08 19:33 -0700
                Re: green stars pnalsing@gmail.com - 2015-10-08 19:59 -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 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 Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 17:36 -0500
          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 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 Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 13:07 -0500
            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 pnalsing@gmail.com - 2015-10-06 11:39 -0700
                Re: green stars The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-10-06 12:35 -0700
                Re: green stars pnalsing@gmail.com - 2015-10-06 13:20 -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 pnalsing@gmail.com - 2015-10-06 15:58 -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 "reber g=emc^2" <herbertglazier0@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 13:26 -0700
    Re: green stars "reber g=emc^2" <herbertglazier0@gmail.com> - 2015-10-06 09:58 -0700
  Re: green stars Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 07:53 -0500

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