Metric vs. other measurement systems - chart

[hemmjo]

That looks a little bit creepy. I have to see if my dog can do that!!!

[IntheGroove]

Fahrenheit is very cool...

[Toolmaker51]

Reminds me of certain 80's era female portraits; ol' Fahrenheit strikes extreme version of high school yearbook photo.
We called [derided] it Pro-vanity.

[mklotz]

Was "Rankine" so ashamed he ran away before the shutter snapped?

I'll never forgive old Fahrenheit.

If you're a scientist and you are defining a standard, you should attempt to make the standard something that can be accurately reproduced locally. Now, in temperature the two widely available points are freezing and boiling water.

So what does the dummy, Danny F, do? He uses a mix of water, ice, and a salt, to set the zero point. (Now the guy trying to calibrate his homemade thermometer has to determine type of salt, mixture proportions, etc..- all sources of error.) Then he sets an upper point as human body temperature! (Yeah, now there's a nice stable temperature.) Finally, he defines the freezing point of water as 32. With this wonky arrangement, the boiling point comes in at 212.

I won't forgive Fahrenheit but I'd willingly crucify Rankine.

It's 1859 and the concept of absolute zero exists. In thermodynamics, it makes sense to define temperatures relative to a zero set at that point. Baron Kelvin, also a Scot, did that and logically used the Celsius degree (based on freezing water zero and boiling 100) in his scale. Rankine, on the other hand, used the Farenheit degree thus propagating the use of that abomination.

[marksbug]

just good ole MT dew!!! diet of coarse. I just noticed with that last pic, to me, that kelvin looks Scottish, Celsius looks roman, and Fahrenheit looks German....but I have no dog in this hunt so Ill just watch and see what works for me.

[old kodger]

In outback Queensland, temp is decided more easily. Go outside in the morning and you can see your breath,......"it's bloody cold!
sweat your tits of all day,........."Jeez, it's bloody hot!" anything else, any time, is just inconvenient, or otherwise, according to your particular temperament at any given moment.

[Toolmaker51]

I get a kick out of Mr. K's special treatments on history + effects on science in general. Hilarious 5 minute theses [plural according to google], and funnier yet to imagine him going back in those era presenting pro and con arguments. They wouldn't stand a chance, lol, against his reports on the result of their folly.
Not to linger afterward, want him definitely returned.
But he could stop off for a king-ship, know he'd enjoy that.

[mklotz]

I get a kick out of Mr. K's special treatments on history + effects on science in general. Hilarious 5 minute theses [plural according to google], and funnier yet to imagine him going back in those era presenting pro and con arguments. They wouldn't stand a chance, lol, against his reports on the result of their folly.
Not to linger afterward, want him definitely returned.
But he could stop off for a king-ship, know he'd enjoy that.

Just wait till you hear my redesign of the criminal justice system. :-)

Lord Kelvin was a salty old bastard. His best quote, a favorite of mine (on my coffee mug) is:

"In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting."

Of course, he had his off days, and was dumb enough to vocalize his screwups...

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."

"There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement."

"When you are face to face with a difficulty, you are up against a discovery."

[Toolmaker51]

re criminal justice; thinking many here have similar outlines, and close to what is on the books of certain locations.
They just haven't the juice to enact them.
Especially when herding the lawful is SO much easier.

Far as the other quotes, is not being faced with difficulty a step from discovery? A lot more accurate than impossibility of flight or peak of physics being attained.

[IntheGroove]

Geology Rocks. Geography is where it's at...