Re: [LEAPSECS] the tail wags the dog

From: Rob Seaman <seaman_at_noao.edu>
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 07:11:06 -0700

On Jan 24, 2006, at 12:50 AM, Peter Bunclark wrote:

> I don't think Rob meant the above to be a complete course on
> navigation!

...although as a fan of Patrick O'Brian I am qualified not only to
teach navigation, but also the violin and Catalan. You should see me
in a Bear costume.

> Good example of a timekeeping decision made by a (very tiny)
> minority over the majority.

The issue here is the meaning of the preposition "over". It is not
unusual for we anointed of Hephaestus (the god of dweebs) to be
placed in the position of making decisions for others - who may not
even be aware an important issue is being considered. The more
fundamental question is whether the requirements of the majority are
properly considered and given appropriate weight.

> How nice indeed, it would be, if the months were fixed to match
> lunations.

Quadratic despair still lurks, of course, since the month is
lengthening for exactly the same reason as the day. Well, despair
would be lurking if we tried to match the length of the month (a
natural phenomenon) to an SI unit (such as the second).

Rob
Received on Tue Jan 24 2006 - 06:11:29 PST