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Re: Common Science Knowledge





On Thu, 27 Mar 1997 DOUGLANJ@SNYMORVA.CS.SNYMOR.EDU wrote:

Did anyone see last Monday's "Chicago Hope?" It made me feel hopeless in
terms of general knowledge of science. One of the "doctors" supposedly
froze a tumor to "170 degrees below centigrade!" Life is sad and I'm
ready for vacation!

Nancy Douglas


Not having watched/heard this program, I can't interpret how bad a gaffe
this was. It's all in the delivery.

Was it "17 degrees below, centrigrade"?

Or was it "170 degrees, below centigrade"?

Of course in science, centigrade is old-fashioned; we use Celsius instead.
But that aside, the first form above is consistent with common speech
"It's 20 degrees below in Minneapolis today", meaning, "20 degrees below
zero" with Fahrenheit being understood, since this backward country hasn't
gone metric.

The second form above would be a real goof, confusing "centrigrade" with
"zero".

It matters where, you place commas even, when speaking. :-)

(It matters where you place commas, even when speaking.)

-- Donald

......................................................................
Dr. Donald E. Simanek Office: 717-893-2079
Prof. of Physics Internet: dsimanek@eagle.lhup.edu
Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA. 17745 CIS: 73147,2166
Home page: http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek FAX: 717-893-2047
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