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Hugh Haskell wrote:
> I can probably think of some really obscure occasions when you might
want time
> on the ordinate
It's not hard to think of non-obscure occasions.
-- Time necessary to roast a large piece of meat, as a function of its
diameter. (Hint: It's not a straight line.) If you are in a real-world
kitchen, the time is definitely the dependent variable.
-- Time necessary to siphon the water out of my parents' above-ground
pool, as
a function of the diameter of hose used. (Hint: It's not a straight
line. Not
at all.)
-- Mean time to failure of a mechanical system, as a function of
temperature.
It would be bizarre to plot this the other way around; it might not even be a
function (if the system fails when it is too hot OR too cold).
-- Etc. etc. etc. etc.