NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/sci/philosop/tech/4161

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-18 | 3.4 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Carl J Lydick)
Newsgroups: sci.philosophy.tech,sci.physics,sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: Measurement & Precision
Date: 18 Nov 1992 15:02:53 GMT
Organization: HST Wide Field/Planetary Camera
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Distribution: world
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>,<[e-mail]>
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In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Derek Abbott) writes:
=In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David M. Palmer) writes:
=>[e-mail] (Derek Abbott) writes:
=>
=>>PS. BTW, it would be an interesting to put 5 or 6 scientists/engineers on
=>>a desert island (rich in ores) with the goal of producing a 5um accuracy stepper
=>>motor from stratch. They are allowed any text books they like and we feed them
=>>well, so they can work on it full time.
=>
=>>It would be interesting to see if they could do it within their life time.
=>
=>>Do people think it would necessarily take a number of generations?
=>
=>>Also recording the minimum number of steps it took to "bootstrap" modern
=>>precision out of stone age tools would be a fascinating bit of trivia.
=>
=>Piece of cake.  (Assuming you have the right kind of ores.)
=>Make a 5 micron/step 'inchworm' motor.  (An inchworm motor works
=>using the expansion and contraction of piezo-electric crystals
=>to make the system 'walk'.  They are used in probe positioning for
=>atomic resolution scanning-probe microscopes  (e.g. scanning tunnelling
=>microscopes.))
=>
=>Wire you can beat out of native gold.  Batteries might be a problem,
=>but you could make a generator out of magnetite and wire.  Use quartz
=>for the piezo-electric components.  Polished stone for the rails.
=>
=>Voila, within a year.  Less if the team includes a master blacksmith who
=>can do ab initio smelting of metals from ores.  A lot longer if you have
=>a management team.
=>
=>All it takes is a little Conneticut Yankee ingenuity.
=>
=
=Hmmmmmm, I don't think it's quite as simple as that. The whole measurement
=technology itself has to be bootstrapped up, measurement standards reinvented
=etc etc for them to be able to measure the positioning performance of the
=motor.

Does anybody else find it interesting that here Derek both commits the fallacy
of his hypothetical troglodyte (if Derek can't figure out how to do it, it's
impossible) and exhibits the behavior of his hypothetical "extreme skeptic"?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: [e-mail] | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL

Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My
understanding of astronomy is purely at the amateur level (or below).  So
unless what I'm saying is directly related to VAX/VMS, don't hold me or my
organization responsible for it.  If it IS related to VAX/VMS, you can try to
hold me responsible for it, but my organization had nothing to do with it.