NavList:

   

Reply

> Thanks to Bill for a really interesting posting about "the
> circumnavigator's paradox".

George

I think I liked this article as it was the one that caused the little bulb
over my head to light up.  I had read a half dozen articles on the date
line, from grade school level up, complete with colorful diagrams, but never
really grasped the concept. Just plug and chug based on a set of rules.

My problem, as usual, frame of reference. I kept thinking of it in 20th
century terms, calendar and watch.  With this article, the frame of
reference shifted to Sun time.  Bingo, unification theory for the terminally
slow.  I hop on an aircraft at LAN, head west and circle the globe at 15d
per hour, and I arrive back at LAN.  Sun time, no time passed.  Digital
watch shows the same time as when I left, but a day later despite the fact
it had been LAN for me the whole flight.   Going west, I would see two "Sun
days," but only one would pass on my watch.

Now I don't need to remember any rules, I understand the concept.

Bill

   

Reply