Re: sun's distance as lab exercise?

[brian whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>]

At 15:00 2/23/00 -0800, Leigh wrote:
...
> G isn't that easy to measure in the lab. It was first achieved by
> Cavendish in (I think) 1792. He published under the flamboyant
> title "Weighing the Earth"....
> Leigh

It's amusing to catch a rare slip in the eponymous article describing
this very diffident, retiring person (14th ed. Enc. Brit. 1957 printing):

"Cavendish's last great achievement was his series of experiments
 to determine the destiny of the Earth (Phil Trans 1798)..."

  "...The figure he gives for the specific gravity
of the Earth is 5.48."

(A modern estimate gives 5.497)





brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>
Altus OK