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DHutch

By DHutch
in Boat Equipment

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FORTUNATA Experienced

FORTUNATA

Posted
Posted

A lot of the really great engineers make mistakes. Often due to age. The engineer who taught me a lot was F J Camm who was writing books in the 1940's. I did find at least 2 small maths errors in his book although it could easily have been a reprint error. In those days they had no calculators either.

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Paul C Veteran II

Paul C

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Posted

A lot of the really great engineers make mistakes. Often due to age. The engineer who taught me a lot was F J Camm who was writing books in the 1940's. I did find at least 2 small maths errors in his book although it could easily have been a reprint error. In those days they had no calculators either.

 

I'm all for peer-review (which would normally pick up those mistakes you mention) but its fair to say, a lot of medicore engineers also make mistakes. It is the peer reviewing which is perceived as a valuable "check" on scientific theories and knowledge, thus why the forum format isn't that bad after all. However to relate mistakes to greatness is a bit of an unusual association.

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Naughty!

 

 

Well the arbitrary deletions for no apparent reason other than (and we have to guess here) a mod doesn't like what's being said seem to be continuing. So its beginning to loom as though Bag 'o' Bones wasn't the only culprit.

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Guest

Guest

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We had log books too. Or should that be books of logorithmic tables.

 

My father was a TV repairman. He gave up when he no longer needed his soldering iron. The chip on his shoulder said something about them having turned TVs into Lego.

They were brilliant. Logs and anti logs. Takes me back.

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ditchcrawler Veteran II

ditchcrawlerDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

 

 

Well the arbitrary deletions for no apparent reason other than (and we have to guess here) a mod doesn't like what's being said seem to be continuing. So its beginning to loom as though Bag 'o' Bones wasn't the only culprit.

Yes I just went to comment on a post and it wasnt there.

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cuthound Veteran II

cuthoundDonate to Canal World

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I think I learned how to use log tables in A level maths at school. But then one day someone came in with a calculator which could plot graphs, and the teacher didn't bother with the log tables after that.

Used to be taught in the early years of secondary school when I was a lad, along with sines and co-sines. Calculus was A level stuff.

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WotEver Veteran II

WotEverDonate to Canal World

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Used to be taught in the early years of secondary school when I was a lad, along with sines and co-sines. Calculus was A level stuff.

Moving from O level to A level was an eye opener for me. In O level calculus was a subject unto itself. In A level, suddenly calculus was just a tool like addition and division.

 

Minus B plus or minus the square root of B squared minus 4 AC all over 2A.

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cuthound Veteran II

cuthoundDonate to Canal World

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Moving from O level to A level was an eye opener for me. In O level calculus was a subject unto itself. In A level, suddenly calculus was just a tool like addition and division.

Minus B plus or minus the square root of B squared minus 4 AC all over 2A.

Yes, it was only when I began studying electrical engineering that it began to make sense to me. At school it was just complicated maths, the practical purpose of which I couldn't see!

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Cheshire cat Experienced

Cheshire catDonate to Canal World

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I saw the valves light up a few times!

 

Unfortunately when I was trying to do A level Maths my teacher was unable to explain the practical purposes that differentiation and integration could be put so it was just mental gymnastics to me. Ended up with a D I think.

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Phil Ambrose Veteran II

Phil Ambrose

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Yes, it was only when I began studying electrical engineering that it began to make sense to me. At school it was just complicated maths, the practical purpose of which I couldn't see!

I had exactly the same issues with Trigonometry, it wasn't till I went into Toolmaking that it made sense, I had the light bulb moment and never looked back.

Phil

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Guest

Guest

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Posted (edited)

I had exactly the same issues with Trigonometry, it wasn't till I went into Toolmaking that it made sense, I had the light bulb moment and never looked back.

Phil

On of my favourite subjects at school/college. SOHCAHTOA smile.png We had to measure the height of the boiler house chimney, using a theodolite and trig calculations. I showed the teacher how to do the same job with a stick, and a sunny day ;)

Edited by Guest
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Oldbugger Gongoozler

Oldbugger

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On of my favourite subjects at school/college. SOHCAHTOA smile.png We had to measure the height of the boiler house chimney, using a theodolite and trig calculations. I showed the teacher how to do the same job with a stick, and a sunny day wink.png

 

That reads a bit odd to me. 'Some Of His Cattle And Horses Tom Offered Anthony'?

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