From: John Conover <john@email.johncon.com>
Subject: forwarded message from root@email.johncon.com
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 00:59:15 -0700
Well, I usually comment on the happenings of "On This Day" but there
wasn't any, (unless you had the unfortunate circumstances of setting
sail on the Titanic-in which case your happenings hadn't happened
yet.) So, I'll comment on "Moon 0.20 (Increasing)," instead. (I'm
grappling, OK?) My machine had to search a lot of stuff to find not
much interesting happened on 10 April. It also had to calculate the
phase of the moon.
How accurate is that calculation? As it turns out, fairly accurate,
since F = MA = 1 / r^2, etc., works, (ie., the clockwork of the
universe, as described by Newton, Leibnitz, et al, eg., the calculus.)
But how accurate is the algorithm I used in the calculation? I mean,
it comes from science. I mean physics. Right?
As it turns out, that is a problem. You see, when you figure out the
celestial circumstances for the earth and moon, (ie., a two body problem,)
we can calculate it, with any accuracy that one might wish.
But what if we include the not-so-significant effects of the sun?
Well, when we do that it becomes a three body problem, (strange name
for it,) and one of the great generalists in mathematics, Poincare, in
the late 1800's showed, formally, that that was an insolvable problem.
And what is the significance of that? Well, it turns out that, (it is
technically a problem in non-linear dynamical systems, ie., NLS, or in
the lay, a chaotic system-a superset of fractals-thanks for sharing
that, huh?,) my algorithm, (as, theoretically, all algorithms of the
three body problem must,) looses accuracy at an exponentially
increasing rate. Meaning, that although the effects of the sun don't
create significant errors in the near future-however, in the long
term, they dominate.
Bottom line is that we do not know that April will be in the spring
four million years from now. (This is easy to show using phase-state
relationships from Poincare diagrams, the tool-in-trade in the
analysis of such things.)
Best I could come up with on 10 April.
John
BTW, in case you are curious, consider a karem(sp?) shot in billiards,
where one ball is knocked into another, which goes were it is supposed
to. Now, consider the mathematics of knocking one ball into another,
which hits another, which goes where it is supposed to. A detailed
study of doing this with nine balls means that you must include the
mass of the players, and observers, into the equations, in addition to
the mass/motion of the moon, sun and planets into the equations, to
get the ball into a 2 inch hole, at the end of a 5 foot table. And,
if one could take into effect all the stuff at this level, how would
one solve the deterministic equations? One can't. That is why JPL was
tweaking the thrusters on Pioneer 10 in the sling shot around Jupiter
to exit the solar system, as close to real time as they could, (15
minutes, one way.) They also had to include relativistic effects. So,
how good is the calculus? Real good for simple systems. Now you know
why any more that a 3 body problem is called a complex system, which
is handled by complexity-theory, (AKA, fractals or chaotic system
theory.)
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Received: (from root@localhost) by johncon.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) id AAA14514 for john; Thu, 10 Apr 1997 00:05:07 -0700
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From: root <root@email.johncon.com>
To: john@email.johncon.com
Subject: Reminders for Thursday, April 10, 1997
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 00:05:07 -0700
Reminders for Thursday, 10th April, 1997 (today):
Sunrise 06:42, Sunset 19:37, Moon 0.20 (Increasing)
Reminders for Tuesday, 15th April, 1997:
Income tax due
________________________ On This Day, Apr 10 ... ________________________
1st hotel in Hawaii opens. (1825)
Bunny Wailer born Neville O'Reilly Livingston (Kingston, 1947)
California Street Cable Car Railroad Company starts service. (1878)
Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry born (1854)
Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry born, 1854
Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary, dies (1919)
First issue of the New York Tribune. The publisher was Horace Greeley (1841)
Gov Morton of Nebraska suggests a holiday for planting trees to be known as Arbor Day (1872)
Harry Morgan, actor (1915)
House of Wax, first 3-D movie, released in New York. (1953)
John Madden, sportscaster (1936)
Joseph Pulitzer, the journalist and philanthropist, is born (1847)
King James V of England is born (1512)
Louis the II of France dies (879)
Omar Sharif is born (1932)
Paul McCartney announces departure from Beatles (1970)
Paul McCartney announces that he's quitting the Beatles, 1970
Pesach (First Day of Passover; sabbatical)
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated (1866)
The luxury Liner RMS Titanic set sail on its ill-fated (1912)maiden voyage.
The maiden launch of the space shuttle Columbia was scrubbed (1981)
William Booth born, 1829, founder of the Salvation Army
William Booth born, founder of the Salvation Army (1829)
William Hammond Hall's maps & surveys of Golden Gate Park officially accepted (1871)
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John Conover, john@email.johncon.com, http://www.johncon.com/