Credibility
My policy when troubleshooting is listen to everyone, for sometimes the answer lies in the wisdom of the logic of a drunk old man, yet trust no one. Sometimes people's perceptions are skewed, our senses misleading, a test lead fails, educators occasionally teach lies; a troubleshooter must distill the truth.
I've been reading "What Smart Students Know" by Adam Robinson. I know it's a minor point, but he cites an example stating the formula for the volume of a sphere is 4πr² (page 157). This infuriates me, as I think it's (4/3)πr³. Apparently, smart students get that one wrong. Hope it wasn't a life-safety calculation...ooops!
Awhile back, I was watching a documentary, "Supersize Me", by Morgan Spurlock. He interviews Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, Chair of Nutrition and Food Studies,NYU, asking her to define a calorie. When she states "...one calorie is the amount of energy that's needed to raise the temperature of a liter of water by one degree centigrade" (Well said) I nearly hit the ceiling! Being a simple tradesman, I believe one calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree centigrade. Hope she doesn't prescribe meds, she's off by a factor of a thousand (assuming 1ml of water weighs 1 g...true often enough)! (This movie had other issues...good try, but wow...)
Fortunately, locked in academia, how much damage can they cause? It's not like they're installing high voltage wiring, or high pressure steam piping, or diagnosing patients, or driving 80,000 pound trucks behind school buses. I know it's tough to fact check, but even Hans Gruber was impressed by attention to detail. They both lost credibility. I don't discard the entire work, but as I say, listen to everyone, trust no one, only your mind has the ability to find the truth.
I've been reading "What Smart Students Know" by Adam Robinson. I know it's a minor point, but he cites an example stating the formula for the volume of a sphere is 4πr² (page 157). This infuriates me, as I think it's (4/3)πr³. Apparently, smart students get that one wrong. Hope it wasn't a life-safety calculation...ooops!
Awhile back, I was watching a documentary, "Supersize Me", by Morgan Spurlock. He interviews Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, Chair of Nutrition and Food Studies,NYU, asking her to define a calorie. When she states "...one calorie is the amount of energy that's needed to raise the temperature of a liter of water by one degree centigrade" (Well said) I nearly hit the ceiling! Being a simple tradesman, I believe one calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree centigrade. Hope she doesn't prescribe meds, she's off by a factor of a thousand (assuming 1ml of water weighs 1 g...true often enough)! (This movie had other issues...good try, but wow...)
Fortunately, locked in academia, how much damage can they cause? It's not like they're installing high voltage wiring, or high pressure steam piping, or diagnosing patients, or driving 80,000 pound trucks behind school buses. I know it's tough to fact check, but even Hans Gruber was impressed by attention to detail. They both lost credibility. I don't discard the entire work, but as I say, listen to everyone, trust no one, only your mind has the ability to find the truth.
posted by Tom Demko at
11:05 PM
2 Comments:
You are correct, the volume of a sphere is (4/3)πr³. The surface area of a sphere is 4πr².
As for "Supersize Me," Marion Nestle and you are both correct. The reason is there is a difference between calorie and Calorie. A Calorie (also called kilocalorie i think) is equal to 1000 calories. When we talk about food, we use Calories. So you gave the correct definition of a calorie, and she gave the correct definition of a Calorie.
By
Colby, at 12:04 PM
Wow!!! Sure enough! I am humbled. She's still wrong...it's kg not liter, but depending on the temp of the water, not a significant error.
By
Tom Demko, at 12:45 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home