Trust-Love, Paranoia-Chaos, Leni

[George Haberberger]

At 10:27 AM 7/31/97 -0500, Henry Musikar wrote:
>On 31 Jul 97 at 8:52, George Haberberger <ghaberbe at frontiernet.net> 
>wrote:
>
>> I suppose all the Northern Hemisphere P-Listers could take a bearing
>> on Polaris, figure the angle of Polaris from the horizon with a
>> $1.99 protractor, a piece of dental floss and a nut, and calculate
>> our latitudenal (sic) differences in distance. The rest is just
>> geometry.
>> 
>> SI units, please.
>> 
>> Of course, then you have to trust us, Henry.
>
>Now I'm supposed to believe that not only is the Earth round, but 
>that there is a star that you call "Polaris" that...  

Spend a lot of nights outside. You'll notice that the stars all travel in
great circles across the sky, except for one "not the brightest star in the
sky" star that doesn't appear to move (cameras with the lenses stuck open
are great for this). This star, call it whatever you wish, ( I like Polaris)
always points the North, though to confirm this I would recommend marking
where the Sun rises and sets across the course of a year (large stone
monoliths work really well for this) and comparing those stones with the
direction of that "North" star.

>
>Well, you get the point. My education didn't build on tangibles. One 
>of the good things about Montessori is that it does. Anyone remember 
>the Firesign Theater's "Everything You Know is Wrong" album?

I'm not sure I do get the point, are you stating people believe the Earth is
round because they've been told that, or are too lazy to test it, or what?
I'm sure that you're leading up to something.

As far as proving the Earth is round, I haven't proved it personally, but I
do know the section of the Earth that I am on is circular, as back in the
summer of 1987, it was a fine summer night, a few bowls and brews with
friends, then off to a rooftop bar to listen to an acoustic Dead cover band.
and watch the Earth's circular shadow cover the moon.

>
>AsB4,
>Henry Musikar
>(-::-)
>Keep cool, but care. -- TRP
>Moderation in moderation. -- Husky Mariner
>DON'T PANIC! -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
>What, me worry? -- A. E. Newman
>


George