Comments for Dead Reckonings http://myreckonings.com/wordpress Lost Art in the Mathematical Sciences Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:30:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 Comment on A 2010 “Graphical Computing” Calendar by Sean Bietz http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/12/31/a-2010-graphical-computing-calendar/#comment-1522 Sean Bietz Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:28 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/12/31/a-2010-graphical-computing-calendar/#comment-1522 <p>This is a very nice looking and very interesting calendar. Hope you keep it up in 2011. Thanks.</p> <em><p>I appreciate that. With the nice responses I've received on this calendar, I've started to think about a 2011 calendar. Unfortunately, I haven't decided if it will be on the same topic or a different math-related topic. -- Ron</p></em> This is a very nice looking and very interesting calendar. Hope you keep it up in 2011. Thanks.

I appreciate that. With the nice responses I’ve received on this calendar, I’ve started to think about a 2011 calendar. Unfortunately, I haven’t decided if it will be on the same topic or a different math-related topic. — Ron

]]> Comment on A 2010 “Graphical Computing” Calendar by Peter Pagliarulo http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/12/31/a-2010-graphical-computing-calendar/#comment-1521 Peter Pagliarulo Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:58:53 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/12/31/a-2010-graphical-computing-calendar/#comment-1521 <p>I've appreciate very much this calendar. Very, very nice (and useful)</p> <em><p> You're quite welcome! --- Ron </p></em> I’ve appreciate very much this calendar. Very, very nice (and useful)

You’re quite welcome! — Ron

]]> Comment on The Art of Nomography I: Geometric Design by Johannes Schöön http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-i-geometric-design/#comment-1499 Johannes Schöön Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:28:46 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-i-geometric-design/#comment-1499 <p>A potentially very useful program for drawing nomograms is Asymptote. It has a graphing submodule which includes a tool for placing tick marks along arbitrary curves. http://asymptote.sourceforge.net</p> <p>Having a pathologically critical mind set, I could not help but noticing a large number of "here" links. They make up one possible area for improvement (see e.g. http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/noClickHere).</p> <p>Far too often, people think "old = bad, new = good". Nomograms may be arcane, but definitly not useless! BTW, I still use a slide rule occasionally...</p> <em><p>Thanks, Johannes. I hadn't heard of Asymptote before, and it looks great! I've used TikZ quite a bit for graphics, which also runs within LaTeX, but TikZ uses the LaTeX counters and lengths for variables and it takes a lot of trial and error to keep them from overflowing. Asymptote is a full language with floating point support, which is fantastic for drawing mathematical figures. PyNomo is my choice by far for drawing nomograms, but I will certainly be using Asymptote for other mathematical drawings (and animations!).</p> <p>I read the webpage on formatting links. I had never thought about it before. I'll be updating this essay soon to fix a few small things, so I'll update the link format---I'm also someone who cares about these details. --- Ron</p></em> A potentially very useful program for drawing nomograms is Asymptote. It has a graphing submodule which includes a tool for placing tick marks along arbitrary curves. http://asymptote.sourceforge.net

Having a pathologically critical mind set, I could not help but noticing a large number of “here” links. They make up one possible area for improvement (see e.g. http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/noClickHere).

Far too often, people think “old = bad, new = good”. Nomograms may be arcane, but definitly not useless! BTW, I still use a slide rule occasionally…

Thanks, Johannes. I hadn’t heard of Asymptote before, and it looks great! I’ve used TikZ quite a bit for graphics, which also runs within LaTeX, but TikZ uses the LaTeX counters and lengths for variables and it takes a lot of trial and error to keep them from overflowing. Asymptote is a full language with floating point support, which is fantastic for drawing mathematical figures. PyNomo is my choice by far for drawing nomograms, but I will certainly be using Asymptote for other mathematical drawings (and animations!).

I read the webpage on formatting links. I had never thought about it before. I’ll be updating this essay soon to fix a few small things, so I’ll update the link format—I’m also someone who cares about these details. — Ron

]]> Comment on A 4-Variable Nomogram — 四变量诺模图 by Glen http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/03/13/a-4-variable-nomogram-%e5%9b%9b%e5%8f%98%e9%87%8f%e8%af%ba%e6%a8%a1%e5%9b%be/#comment-1498 Glen Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:07:56 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/03/13/a-4-variable-nomogram-%e5%9b%9b%e5%8f%98%e9%87%8f%e8%af%ba%e6%a8%a1%e5%9b%be/#comment-1498 Hi Ron: I don't think you investigated what the b can do in Hall's version. If you take your "central projection" parameters and try b = xp/(xp - 1), you should see something similar to what you got (I didn't work out the a that would leave that square, but I think something near a=1 or a=-1 will be right). The zp parameter just stretches the x-scale (just makes the plot longer relative to the height). Hi Ron:

I don’t think you investigated what the b can do in Hall’s version. If you take your “central projection” parameters
and try b = xp/(xp - 1), you should see something similar to what you got (I didn’t work out the a that would leave that square, but I think something near a=1 or a=-1 will be right).

The zp parameter just stretches the x-scale (just makes the plot longer relative to the height).

]]> Comment on The Art of Nomography II: Designing with Determinants by Nomograph « Tux World http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-ii-designing-with-determinants/#comment-1473 Nomograph « Tux World Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:25:23 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-ii-designing-with-determinants/#comment-1473 [...] http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-ii-designing-with-determinants/ [...] […] http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-ii-designing-with-determinants/ […]

]]> Comment on The Art of Nomography III: Transformations by Nomograph « Tux World http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-iii-transformations/#comment-1472 Nomograph « Tux World Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:59:39 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-iii-transformations/#comment-1472 [...] http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-iii-transformations/ [...] […] http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-iii-transformations/ […]

]]> Comment on The Art of Nomography I: Geometric Design by Nomograph « Tux World http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-i-geometric-design/#comment-1471 Nomograph « Tux World Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:59:23 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-i-geometric-design/#comment-1471 [...] http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-i-geometric-design/#more-23 [...] […] http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-i-geometric-design/#more-23 […]

]]> Comment on A 2010 “Graphical Computing” Calendar by Scott Finegan http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/12/31/a-2010-graphical-computing-calendar/#comment-1441 Scott Finegan Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:35:23 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/12/31/a-2010-graphical-computing-calendar/#comment-1441 Thanks for a great looking calendar. As always your projects are multi-use. Best, Scott Thanks for a great looking calendar. As always your projects are multi-use.

Best,
Scott

]]> Comment on A 2010 “Graphical Computing” Calendar by Nomograms « Harry R. Schwartz http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/12/31/a-2010-graphical-computing-calendar/#comment-1430 Nomograms « Harry R. Schwartz Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:06:48 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/12/31/a-2010-graphical-computing-calendar/#comment-1430 [...] Like beautiful math? Need a calendar for 2010? Download a copy of Ron Doerfler’s Graphical Computing Calendar. [...] […] Like beautiful math? Need a calendar for 2010? Download a copy of Ron Doerfler’s Graphical Computing Calendar. […]

]]> Comment on Magnetic Deviation: Comprehension, Compensation and Computation (Part II) by Nomograms « Harry R. Schwartz http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/04/18/magnetic-deviation-comprehension-compensation-and-computation-part-ii/#comment-1429 Nomograms « Harry R. Schwartz Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:05:01 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2009/04/18/magnetic-deviation-comprehension-compensation-and-computation-part-ii/#comment-1429 [...] range from the very simple – like the above BMI calculator – to the (often beautifully) complex. Once upon a time they were commonly used for navigation, astronomy, surveying, and countless other [...] […] range from the very simple – like the above BMI calculator – to the (often beautifully) complex. Once upon a time they were commonly used for navigation, astronomy, surveying, and countless other […]

]]> Comment on Lightning Calculators II: The Methods by jenizaro http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/lightning-calculators-ii-the-methods/#comment-1423 jenizaro Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:18:37 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/lightning-calculators-ii-the-methods/#comment-1423 <p>Is there a mistake in Superman's calculation? Shouldn't it be 3,200?</p> <em><p>You're right! I sort of made a sly comment about it in the second bullet in the list to the left of the picture, about usually having more success at multiplication than Superman demonstrates. Nice catch. --- Ron</p></em> Is there a mistake in Superman’s calculation? Shouldn’t it be 3,200?

You’re right! I sort of made a sly comment about it in the second bullet in the list to the left of the picture, about usually having more success at multiplication than Superman demonstrates. Nice catch. — Ron

]]> Comment on Lightning Calculators III: The Media by jenizaro http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/lightning-calculators-iii-the-media/#comment-1422 jenizaro Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:28:40 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/04/15/lightning-calculators-iii-the-media/#comment-1422 Great article! I kind of always suspected there was a trick to doing those kinds of mental calculations and that it wasn't really about superhuman brain powers. Thanks! Great article! I kind of always suspected there was a trick to doing those kinds of mental calculations and that it wasn’t really about superhuman brain powers. Thanks!

]]> Comment on Heaviside’s Operator Calculus by Calendars, Cats, and Connections — The Endeavour http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2007/12/07/heavisides-operator-calculus/#comment-1421 Calendars, Cats, and Connections — The Endeavour Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:32:54 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2007/12/07/heavisides-operator-calculus/#comment-1421 [...] on the calendar here. When I discovered Ron Doerfler’s blog, I bookmarked his article on Oliver Heaviside to read later. (Heaviside was a pioneer in what was later called distribution theory, a way of [...] […] on the calendar here. When I discovered Ron Doerfler’s blog, I bookmarked his article on Oliver Heaviside to read later. (Heaviside was a pioneer in what was later called distribution theory, a way of […]

]]> Comment on The Art of Nomography I: Geometric Design by Stunna http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-i-geometric-design/#comment-1415 Stunna Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:20:57 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/the-art-of-nomography-i-geometric-design/#comment-1415 This seems to be... *Sunglasses* Quite the brain tease This seems to be…
*Sunglasses*
Quite the brain tease

]]> Comment on The (Not So) Simple Pendulum by Peter Goodwin http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2007/11/19/the-not-so-simple-pendulum/#comment-1413 Peter Goodwin Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:21:32 +0000 http://myreckonings.com/wordpress/2007/11/19/the-not-so-simple-pendulum/#comment-1413 Fascinating, even if a lot of the maths is beyond me. But one thing puzzles me, re the temperature compensation - this sentence: "If the ratio is 2:1, two rods can be used to expand downward and one rod upward, and so forth for different ratios." Isn't it the relative lengths, not the number of rods? ie if the ratio of expansion coefficients is 1:2 then one rod of length x will require another with length x/2 to compensate, and the doubling up of rods either side was just for reasons of mechanical construction or avoiding a bending moment? Fascinating, even if a lot of the maths is beyond me. But one thing puzzles me, re the temperature compensation - this sentence: “If the ratio is 2:1, two rods can be used to expand downward and one rod upward, and so forth for different ratios.” Isn’t it the relative lengths, not the number of rods? ie if the ratio of expansion coefficients is 1:2 then one rod of length x will require another with length x/2 to compensate, and the doubling up of rods either side was just for reasons of mechanical construction or avoiding a bending moment?

]]>