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Re: Names



At 10:15 AM -0500 2/3/01, Van E. Neie, you wrote about Names:


As I was reading some the posts about this heat thing (and it seems
always to generate a lot of it), I came across a quote:

"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right name."
-- Chinese Proverb

This, of course, begs the question: Who is the final arbiter of the
"right name?" Which reminded me of another quote:

"But who shall guard the guards themselves? --Decimus Junius
Juvenal, 50-130 AD

Recently Pluto has been subjected to an effort at repealing
its 'planet' designation.
There are plenty of reasons for doing so.

Briefly, Ceres, was added to the list of 'official' planets,
back in the 1800's IIRC.

Taxonomy helps us communicate, but, as Feynmann was want to say,
naming something doesn't denote understanding.

-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-. .-
\ / \ / \ N / \ C / \ S / \ S / \ M / \ / \ /
`-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-' `-'
Chuck Britton Education is what is left when
britton@ncssm.edu you have forgotten everything
North Carolina School of Science & Math you learned in school.
(919) 286-3366 x224 Albert Einstein, 1936