Re: Strange Maths (was Re: Why not 13 months?)
Ronald D. Waters (waterrd@mins2.msfc.nasa.gov)
Wed, 19 Jul 1995 19:29:41
In article <DByHv3.4pz@uns.bris.ac.uk> ert@gly.bris.ac.uk (Reggie) writes:
>Mike (mike@label.tlug.org) wrote:
>: Even allowing for wide variations in body part sizes, as the number of
>: instances of use multiply (as with a structure the size of a pyramid) the
>: mean will come to appear as a "standard". This is the nature of statistics.
>I agree with your main argument, but your reference to the pyramids
>suggests that the eygptians didn't have a standardised measure. This
>I find hard to believe. To create a geometric object the size of the
>pyramids would end up as a total balls up if each craftsman was using
>their own measure.
Has anyone mentioned the Japanese study (done by a Japanese television
station, I think) into why certain ratios can be extracted from the dimensions
of the pyramids? I saw it on the Discovery channel around a year ago.
Based on my [sketchy] memory, if you divide the base of the great pyramid
by its height, you get pi/2 (or something like that) to 4 decimal places. The
program then went on to argue a theory to explain this that--
i) Made good sense
ii) Was plausible using only tools the Egyptians had (specifically, wheels)
iii) Did not rely on the probability of random ratios of numbers happening
to be significant
iv) Did not require any unexplainable advanced technology (from UFO's,
Atlanteans, or whatever)
Maybe someone else who saw it could provide more detail.
R.W.
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