Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Anomalocaris · 04-26-2003, 06:26 AM

There would still be eclipses if the sun and moon weren't the same angular diameter, but they would not be total eclipses if the apparent size of the moon were smaller than that of the sun. If the moon's apparent diameter were larger than that of the sun the eclipses would be even more dramatic than they are now.

There are approximately pi x 10^7 seconds in a year, however I think this is just as 'significant' as any other numerologic musings(ie, not at all).

Ernest Sparks · 04-26-2003, 10:55 AM

Note that fine-structure-constant isn't quite 1/137.

Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944) was quite excited by the prime 137 and its reciprocal before the more refined value came out, though!

echidna · 04-27-2003, 05:10 PM

From here ...

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae186.cfm

Quote:

It is worth noting that the fine-structure 'constant' isn't really a constant. The effective electric charge of the electron actually varies slightly with energy so the constant changes a bit depending on the energy scale at which you perform your experiment. For example, 1/137 is its value when you do an experiment at very low energies (like Millikan's oil drop experiment) but for experiments at large particle-accelerator energies its value grows to 1/128.

Worldtraveller · 05-21-2003, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ajm51987
What about that Fibbinochi whatchamacall it sequence? Some one remember that?

The Fibonacci series is just a natural counting progression 1 2 3 5 8 13 21.....where each term is the sum of the previous two terms. This type of arithmetic progression shows up in several natural circumstances. The nautilus shell come to mind. I believe there are some spiders whose web patterns fit it as well.

It's fairly sraightforward though, and is really expected ina lot of cases where some structure is built on another.

Lane

"This isn't rocket science, and I would know."

Calzaer · 05-21-2003, 09:44 AM

Quote:

What about that Fibbinochi whatchamacall it sequence? Some one remember that?

Doesn't David Blane do Fibbinochi Levitation?

gcameron · 05-21-2003, 10:11 AM

http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal...hi.html#golden

http://www.summum.org/philosophy/phi.shtml

I recall reading about the "divine proportion" or "the golden ratio" or something, I guess it's the same as Phi, and supposedly it pops up a lot in nature, i.e. in spirals and suchlike.

No doubt a lot of flim-flam-flummery and new age doublespeak associated with it all.

Lobstrosity · 05-21-2003, 08:43 PM

Here are some "gosh" numbers discovered by Ramanujan:

I think this is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

Big Spoon · 05-22-2003, 04:39 AM

There are lots of ways of approximating pi through infinite series, but I think Ramanajuan takes the biscuit! Personally, I prefer Euler's equation, e^(pi*1)+1=0, much more concise.

Lobstrosity · 05-22-2003, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Spoon
There are lots of ways of approximating pi through infinite series, but I think Ramanajuan takes the biscuit! Personally, I prefer Euler's equation, e^(pi*1)+1=0, much more concise.

Change that first 1 to an i and I'll agree that Euler's equation is quite beautiful in its simplicity.

Big Spoon · 05-22-2003, 07:14 AM

I meant to put i, honest!
I have a lecturer who's obsessed with Euler, it's not hard to see why. His proofs are works of art as well as brilliant mathematics.

04-26-2003, 10:55 AM	#12
Ernest Sparks Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Portland, OR USA Posts: 1,248	1/137? Note that fine-structure-constant isn't quite 1/137. Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944) was quite excited by the prime 137 and its reciprocal before the more refined value came out, though!

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04-26-2003, 06:26 AM	#11
Anomalocaris Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: California Posts: 23	There would still be eclipses if the sun and moon weren't the same angular diameter, but they would not be total eclipses if the apparent size of the moon were smaller than that of the sun. If the moon's apparent diameter were larger than that of the sun the eclipses would be even more dramatic than they are now. There are approximately pi x 10^7 seconds in a year, however I think this is just as 'significant' as any other numerologic musings(ie, not at all).

05-21-2003, 10:11 AM	#16
gcameron Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Western U.S.A. Posts: 293	http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal...hi.html#golden http://www.summum.org/philosophy/phi.shtml I recall reading about the "divine proportion" or "the golden ratio" or something, I guess it's the same as Phi, and supposedly it pops up a lot in nature, i.e. in spirals and suchlike. No doubt a lot of flim-flam-flummery and new age doublespeak associated with it all.

05-21-2003, 08:43 PM	#17
Lobstrosity Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 719	Here are some "gosh" numbers discovered by Ramanujan: I think this is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

05-22-2003, 04:39 AM	#18
Big Spoon Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 74	There are lots of ways of approximating pi through infinite series, but I think Ramanajuan takes the biscuit! Personally, I prefer Euler's equation, e^(pi*1)+1=0, much more concise.

05-22-2003, 07:14 AM	#20
Big Spoon Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 74	I meant to put i, honest! I have a lecturer who's obsessed with Euler, it's not hard to see why. His proofs are works of art as well as brilliant mathematics.

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