At 8:38 AM -0500 9/17/03, Michael Pfeiffer wrote:
>I still measure pipe stems in 64s of an inch (I paid good money to get my
>step guages made) but put the metric in parentheses behind it. Just makes
>its easier to compare with older published data and does not alienate
>non-archaeologist pipe folks.
There are times when "precision" and "accuracy" are not the same. A
bunch of zeroes after a decimal point may look "scientific," but we
are looking for information, not data.
The difference between information and data is too frequently not
appreciated, especially by those with pretense to casting
"scientific" aura over their output. Information is what you get out
of data, and it makes no sense to gather data in a form that goes
beyond your information needs.
So if I found a cache of ten-inch dinner plates, or 8" by 10" window
panes, I would not need their precise metric dimensions for purposes
of the report. If, however, I were studying the progress of
precision machinery over the years, I would be interested in how
closely the product adhered to the standard.
As for pipe stems, I still use twist drills, which give me all the
information I need, without needless metric data that will just
clutter the text and reduce the information value.
I'm reminded of the Safeway strawberry jam that appeared in the
stores every June, packaged in useful drinking glasses. Naturally we
bought a few jars every year, and saved them in the cupboard. After
about a decade, we realized that a "jar of jam" was getting
progressively smaller. Of course, the labels were long gone with the
lids, but when we lined up the jam glasses it was clear that a "jar
of jam" was getting smaller.
--
Ned @ Heite.org
You know you're in trouble
when your idea of excitement
is the way the receipt pops
jauntily, even with gay abandon,
from the slot in the ATM machine.
|