I wonder if he was working on some sort of precursor to the Orton-cone (pyrometric cone) system used in kiln firing today?

Very possibly -- the link I saw quite a bit referred to a pyrometer he invented.

The Darwin bit is interesting too!

I've been reading Stephenson's Baroque Cycle trilogy (just started on the final novel). It's certainly nothing like the rest of his books, but if you like historical fiction then it's not too bad. If you can read Michener then you can probably get through these novels -- the first one is rough going though. Anyway, they're all about this time period with the rise of modern science and the figures therein. I know it's not wholly accurate, but I still find it interesting.


And yeah Bats... I do this kind of thing a good bit.

Damn Z!

Happens to me sometimes, get one of those "What the hell is all of that mean" bugs up yer ass and have to go find out?

**********************************************
Always listening to: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=53
FUNGS 53
http://www.misterpoll.com/4272865924.html

Nicely done!

Wedgewood -- Actually, it's Wedgwood, after Josiah Wedgwood. The most info I can find is that he observed that metals glow red at the same temperature; may have had something to do w/ measuring the temperature of a fire. He was apparantly a potter of some reknown. http://www.sciencetimeline.net/1651.htm

So as in Wedgwood China? Cool! Makes sense when you think about it.. I wonder if he was working on some sort of precursor to the Orton-cone (pyrometric cone) system used in kiln firing today?
http://www.ortonceramic.com/center/cone_ref.html


EDIT: Looks like he was. And there's something else interesting about the man:

Wedgwood was elected a Royal Society Fellow in 1783, primarily for inventing the pyrometer to measure oven temperatures. He took a keen interest, too, in efficient factory organisation, and in improving the transport of raw materials and finished wares by canals, such as the Grand Trunk Canal, and by road.

When Wedgwood died he left a £500,000 fortune, a thriving business, and a daughter, Susannah, mother of Charles Darwin.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wedgwood_josiah.shtml


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GW: Tashen Boke [R/Me]; Rosti The Ninja [Mo/R]; Gort Grimley [W/Ne]
This comment was edited on Nov 17, 22:05.

Ok, this post is likely to take awhile -- not that you'll notice

First off, the majority of the references are to the Straight Dope article, which is hardly informative. The links off the article weren't much better. Here's one good image though (you can see Florentine, Hales, and Edinburgh as scales at least)
http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10313289

Dalton -- Famous for Dalton's law of partial pressures. I found one useful reference. Kinda. I certainly don't grok it (note, may be password protected): http://www.accessscience.com/Dictionary/D/D1/DictD1.html

Wedgewood -- Actually, it's Wedgwood, after Josiah Wedgwood. The most info I can find is that he observed that metals glow red at the same temperature; may have had something to do w/ measuring the temperature of a fire. He was apparantly a potter of some reknown. http://www.sciencetimeline.net/1651.htm

Hales -- No clue. The most prominant Hales was Stephen Hales, who was the first to measure blood pressure, and he's in the right time period to invent his own scale, but I can't find any reference at all to one.

Ducrest -- No info. At all.

Edinburgh -- No clue. Too many bad hits against University of Edinburgh, which was a main haunt of the Royal Society (to which pretty much all the early Natural Philosophers belonged, even if they weren't English).

Florentine -- Apparantly named after the city of Florence, Italy. Early air thermometers were invented there in the 16th century. They had gradiated scales, but each was unique and only useful in that one location. http://starbulletin.com/2003/11/16/business/brill.html

looks like I'll be "smokin' out" when I get home...



---
BF2 Player Name: "MindTrigger"
"Sometimes I think I'd be better off dead. No, wait, not me, you."

Yeah, I'd already read that link. Unfortunately it doesn't describe the more esoteric scales, nor did any other page that I could quickly/easily/freely find -- I think some of them may be in the Encyclopaedia Britannica online, but they want money to view the full pages.

Oh you mean you want to see information you don't already know!! I am definitely not qualified to provide those linkages, Z (although if you do find definitions some day, I'd love to see 'em too!)

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GW: Tashen Boke [R/Me]; Rosti The Ninja [Mo/R]; Gort Grimley [W/Ne]

And all they're really worried about right now is the 360 launch...

Heh.. and they are SO without a sense of humour about that too!


Apparently when someone answers the phone like this:

"Hello and thank you for calling EBGamesYourMicrosoftConsoleSource, the official source of MicrosoftConsolesByMicrosoft, how may I help you?"

It is NOT funny to reply:

"HUH? Microsoft makes consoles???!!"


Proceeding to ask questions about obscure zombie games will not help you recover from such an affront, either.

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GW: Tashen Boke [R/Me]; Rosti The Ninja [Mo/R]; Gort Grimley [W/Ne]

Ok, that post had me laughing so hard I was crying. I suppose being a marine mechanic has a lot to do with appreciating it....and I may have had a floor jack caught underneath my 'vette once...or twice....

DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage While yelling "DAMMIT" at the top of your lungs. It is also the next tool that you will need.

LOL!

Funniest Blue's link EVAR.


As for us New Englanders....why do you think we call it a Nor'easter? Too many damn letters to use them all...

---
I'd never played a Civ before, and laughed when I saw the alarm in Civ IV. Now I use it.

GW: Alia Arjel Mo/W

I HAVE IT SUCKERS!11111111111

Wait, you were talking about my CE version of CoD 2 from GoGamer, right?
The icing will be Batman not getting his! Heh!
Off to install,
Ray

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http://users.ign.com/collection/RayMarden
http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=ray_marden
http://www.livejournal.com/users/raymarden/
I love you, mom.

And all they're really worried about right now is the 360 launch...

Is that today or tomorrow?....searching...... .....searching.
oh shit. 4 days left. Here I thought it was D-Day for some reason.

**********************************************
Always listening to: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=53
FUNGS 53
http://www.misterpoll.com/4272865924.html
This comment was edited on Nov 17, 17:05.

In my pursuit of silliness, I came across this very informative Q&A

Yeah, I'd already read that link. Unfortunately it doesn't describe the more esoteric scales, nor did any other page that I could quickly/easily/freely find -- I think some of them may be in the Encyclopaedia Britannica online, but they want money to view the full pages.

The one thing I found interesting was that the Celsius scale originally ran "backwards" from 100 (Freezing point) to 0 (boiling point). It was changed after Celsius's death -- apparantly largely due to a thermometer maker.

And, of course, the research shows how utterly freaky the Fahrenheit scale is... basically it was calibrated to the lowest temperature the guy recorded in one winter, which he then replicated using a mixture water, salt, and ammonia. That's 0 degrees. And 100 degrees was supposed to be his body temperature...

guess it's hard to care about selling a game like Stubbs when you've only got room for six boxes in the PC section of the store..

And all they're really worried about right now is the 360 launch...



--------------------------------------------------------------
GW: Nilaar Madalla, lvl 20 R/Mo / Tolyl Nor, lvl 20 E/Mo / Xylos Gath, lvl 13 W/Mo

Don't look at me that way. It was An Honest Mistake. http://www.thebravery.com/

Still waiting to hear if anyone has done Stubbs for the PC yet.

I did some pestering this morning, and it sounds like an EB near me might have it for sale tomorrow because "a" copy might show up later today. But no one knows for sure. And if I call back later today, they might be able to tell me, if they've had a chance to care.

They still won't pre-order me one
They don't seem to have an actual in-store date in the system yet/still
They don't seem to think that's weird, even though
They all say "I thought that was supposed to ship out a month ago"

I guess it's hard to care about selling a game like Stubbs when you've only got room for six boxes in the PC section of the store...

Someday soon I will buy it and tell you all about the unholy flatulence

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GW: Tashen Boke [R/Me]; Rosti The Ninja [Mo/R]; Gort Grimley [W/Ne]

Anyone know what the name of this symbol/logo is?

http://www.lifeissues.org/connector/art/02/oct02/SYMBOL.jpg

N/M, I found it: caduceus

Trying to come up with a tattoo design.

This comment was edited on Nov 17, 15:54.

Damn man. You're making me go look up a bunch of scales I've never heard of.

Ok, I give up on everything after Leyden.

HEHehee! Yeah, I had no idea there have been so many either. In my pursuit of silliness, I came across this very informative Q&A:

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtempscales.html

I think the eventual answer is one of these three:

Kelvin
Rankine
Nutzfrozenoff

I favor the third.

Yes, the third is particularly convenient as the scale used is binary. My thermometer reads simply "Yes" or "No", so there is no need to fuss over fractional readings, etc. Actually, most of the time you don't even need the thermometer, just a quick check to see if your junk is still there.

Pretty convenient really, and saves the need to calibrate your instruments which is a nightmare to say the least.


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GW: Tashen Boke [R/Me]; Rosti The Ninja [Mo/R]; Gort Grimley [W/Ne]

Gloucester is pronounced "Glosta"

I was close, and trying to remember the details from our Honeymoon 5 years ago.

Also, do you "wash" or "warsh" your clothes?


*** Warhawk ***

What the hell do you know...

I know it's pretty damn weird to eat people.

34% Yankee. You are definitely Yankee.


"Sheriff Hank Keough: I brought a pork chop for luck. Maybe you could hang it around your neck.
Hector Cyr: That's sweet. Maybe later you can chew the bark off my big fat log."

Still waiting to hear if anyone has done Stubbs for the PC yet.


"Sheriff Hank Keough: I brought a pork chop for luck. Maybe you could hang it around your neck.
Hector Cyr: That's sweet. Maybe later you can chew the bark off my big fat log."

Gloucester is pronounced "Glowster"? They don't drawl (New Orleans is "N'Awlins", for example), they just drop letters completely. Can they read?

Gloucester is pronounced "Glosta", Worcester is "Woosta" or sometimes even "Wista". I grew up in a town called Burrillville but everyone who lived there called it "Burraville"

Yes I do enjoy going for a drink at the bubbla after I eat my grinda.

Yeah its going to be hard to tell where I come from after I move to Nawth Caroliner next year.

I am wondering which temperature scale you have chosen for your standard

Damn man. You're making me go look up a bunch of scales I've never heard of.

Ok, I give up on everything after Leyden.

ITS-90 doesn't appear to be a scale, it's a definition/standard for kelvin/celsius and building thermometers for various degree ranges.

But I think the eventual answer is one of these three:

Kelvin
Rankine
Nutzfrozenoff

I favor the third.