IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU> wrote on 11/09/2007 10:37:57 AM:
> > -----Original Message----- > > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of John S. Giltner, Jr. > > > > [ snip ] > > > > I can't remember the whole thing, but I believe that Grace > > Hopper used to use different rope lengths to show how long, > > or short various measurements of time were: a nano second vs. > > a full second. > > Hmmm..... A nanosecond is one billionth of a second, so the "long" rope > would have to be a billion times longer that the "short" one. Given > that the SI definition of a metre is approximately one ten-millionth > the distance from a pole to the equator along a meridian, if the "short" > rope was only one millimetre long, the "long" one would have to be a > thousand kilometres long. That would make a pretty big "pile" of > rope......... > > -jc- > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO > Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html When she did her presentation everybody got a nanosecond (piece of wire roughly 11 inches long) then she showed us a microsecond (a coil of wire rooughly 1000 feet long it mad an impressive thump when it hit the table). Frank Merlenbach ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
