[meteorite-list] Since Scale Cubes are a topic today

From: Jerry <grf2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:45:57 -0500
Message-ID: <461E6C6EC82F4D09AC2F3C22B0B29CB9_at_Notebook>

Not asistotelian tho?!
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthias B?rmann" <majbaermann at web.de>
To: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>; "Mike Bandli"
<fuzzfoot at comcast.net>; "'Delbert Waterbury'" <paseclipse at yahoo.com>;
<Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 4:39 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Since Scale Cubes are a topic today


> Well, Sterling, I'd say: the presence of a first-class precise scale cube
> in a photo marks the transition between relative and absolute, measurement
> and scale, thing and concept, with other words: it tells us something
> about platonic ideas.
>
> best,
>
> matthias baermann
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "Mike Bandli" <fuzzfoot at comcast.net>; "'Delbert Waterbury'"
> <paseclipse at yahoo.com>; <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 10:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Since Scale Cubes are a topic today
>
>
>> Hi, All
>>
>> I hate to sound a sour note, but these "artifacts" are
>> for SCALE, not measurement. I think it's wonderful
>> that folks make them accurate to +/- 0.001 inch or
>> millimeter, out of materials with low coefficients of
>> expansion, and so forth, but that is purely an exercise
>> in personal perfectionism.
>>
>> Measurement from a photo with a scalecube in it
>> is impossible except in the case of a very elaborate
>> photo setup designed to make such measurements
>> possible and even then, the precision is low. The
>> purpose of a scalecube is SCALE ONLY. Scale
>> is a measurement so crude that we don't even apply
>> the word "measurement" to it.
>>
>> Originally, they were for use "in the field" only. You
>> could carry it in your pocket and drop it on the ground
>> for the "in situ" photo. Putting them into a lab photo is
>> an affectation and serves only the PR purpose of making
>> a photo of a rock look "scientific." (There were people
>> who said, "We paid billions to go to the Moon, and this
>> is what we get: a picture of a rock?" And you could point
>> to the scalecube and say, "Nah! See, it's Science.")
>>
>> During the scalecube threadflood, Dean Bessey kept
>> saying, "Just put a quarter in the photo." Apparently,
>> he understands that the purpose of the object is Scale,
>> not Measurement! If you see a picture of a rock with
>> a featureless white background and there's a quarter
>> next to it, you know it's a little rock. If you see a picture
>> of a rock with a featureless white background and
>> there's me standing next to it, you know it's a big rock.
>>
>> Making the scalecube artifact with such great care and
>> precision is admirable and very enjoyable, but let's apply
>> a little perspective to the purpose of the cube. And I DO
>> admire the makers' pride in precision. Precision is a fine
>> thing (say I, who have ancient Starrett verniers and micro-
>> meters in their old wooden boxes, so I understand), but
>> precision is NOT the purpose of the cube.
>>
>>
>> Sterling K. Webb
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Mike Bandli" <fuzzfoot at comcast.net>
>> To: "'Delbert Waterbury'" <paseclipse at yahoo.com>;
>> <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 1:11 PM
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Since Scale Cubes are a topic today
>>
>>
>> http://www.niger-meteorite-recon.de/en/meteorite-scalecube.htm
>>
>> Best,
>> Mike
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
>> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Delbert
>> Waterbury
>> Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 11:04 AM
>> To: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> Subject: [meteorite-list] Since Scale Cubes are a topic today
>>
>> I seem to remember a few months back someone posted a
>> link that told the story of the Scale Cube. I was
>> wondering what that link is so I can read it.
>>
>> Del
>>
>> __________________________________________________
>>
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Received on Thu 08 Nov 2007 08:45:57 PM PST