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Re: I surrender




GAD! I just can't keep up with reading phys-l. Here's a piece
that seems
to be everywhere, so I can't properly attribute it. It deals
with units
and burocracy, so I thought it belonged in this group.

I spent some time at school today writing on a piece about
work done by
the force of friction. I will eventually finish it and post
it. As with
much of what I write many are not going to like it, but it will fuel
debate. I hope I can get back in step.


Leigh, I look forward to the posting; generally I like what you write or you
end up convincing me; in the rare occasions where you don't, you always make
me think about matters more carefully and I learn from the exercise; so keep
up the work of writing what "we don't like"!



Story follows. I can attest to plausibility but not to accuracy.

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet
8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that
gauge used?

rest of story <snipped>

I agree as to the plausability, but have some non-definitive problems with
this story.

The same beaurocratic tradition didn't seem to follow in Spain, where the
Roman influence has a longer tradition and the wheel ruts are presumably
deeper (so to speak); and the same need to keep your wagon wheels from
breaking must exist.

One can perhaps explain the different Spanish gauge as a concious defence
decision (made later) in much the same way that Imperial Russia bequethed
the same difference in gauge to Soviet Russia. But it never-the-less makes
me wonder about the accuracy of the story.

Joel