Re: [LEAPSECS] Titan Time

From: Zefram <zefram_at_fysh.org>
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 20:50:06 +0100

Rob Seaman wrote:
>There's nothing at all wrong with the radian - but there is a reason
>calculators let you switch between degrees and radians. Each is best
>for particular purposes,

Certainly the radian is best for some purposes. But the degree? Is there
some inherent feature of the circle that makes it particularly natural to
divide it into 360 parts? I don't think angle quantities need particular
divisors any more than length quantities do.

For that matter, dividing the circle into 360 parts for some purposes
and then 24 for others (solar time, right ascension) is pretty annoying.
It would be nice to be able to calculate LMT = UT + longitude without
having to switch units in the middle.

>...leading to the need to rely on pico, femto or atto spheres on a
>day-to-day basis?

For some purposes, yes. In astronomy, I can't really visualise a square
arcsecond, but expressing it as 1.9 psf puts it in proportion.

> also the ability to express right angles and a
>multitude of other special values of trigonometry, leading to
>expressions like cosine (166.667 mcr) = one-half.

The right angle is, of course, 250 mcr. As for arccos(1/2), I'm as
happy to express it as "1/6 cr" as to express it as "1/3 _pi rad".

-zefram
Received on Thu Oct 26 2006 - 12:51:49 PDT