Re: Question On The Harry Potter Books

throopw@xxxxxxxxx (Wayne Throop) wrote in
news:1189134342@xxxxxxxxx:

: "Michael S. Schiffer" <mschiffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: I don't disagree with what you and Wayne are saying. If Mr. A
: Square of Flatland was a mathematician who found himself on a
: standard Asteroids screen, he could reasonably determine that
: he lived on a torus however it might be projected into a
: hypothetical 3-D space. (I don't think he has any way of
: determining the latter.) But Sea Wasp's sense of a torus is
: probably the more common one in standard English (and was, I
: think, originally the standard mathematical definition as
: well), even if it's not the one used by modern mathematicians.

Yes, true enough. But. Hm. How many here think "decimate"
means "kill one tenth of a legion"? (Note, "means", not
"meant".)

I'd guess rather fewer than think that "torus" means "a solid shaped
like a doughnut". That's pretty much how the term is taught at the
high school level (when it's taught at all), and I'd guess the number
of people who manage to remember that outnumber both those who went
further into topology and those who are purists about "decimate".
But I haven't taken a poll-- I could of course be wrong.

Mike
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Question On The Harry Potter Books
    ... I don't disagree with what you and Wayne are saying. ... of Flatland was a mathematician who found himself on a standard ... torus however it might be projected into a hypothetical 3-D space. ... Wasp's sense of a torus is probably the more common one in standard ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Question On The Harry Potter Books
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