Mike, 1) [snip] And it may be that it is my haircuts which cause the > > sun to return. > > Thank you for the example of spurious correlation that I will use> in class. I was thinking the same... Another correlation I use...Does football cause the weather to change? Please notice that in August when football camps open, the weather begins to get cool. Then as the SuperBowl approaches, it gets colder and colder, for example, see this past weekend! jim Jim Matiya Florida Gulf Coast University jmat...@fgcu.edu Contributor, for Karen Huffman's Psychology in Action, Video Guest Lecturettes John Wiley and Sons. Using David Myers' texts for AP Psychology? Go to http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/cppsych/ High School Psychology and Advanced Psychology Graphic Organizers, Pacing Guides, and Daily Lesson Plans archived at www.Teaching-Point.net> From: m...@nyu.edu> To: tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> CC: m...@nyu.edu> Subject: Re: [tips] Happy Winter Solstice!> Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:53:31 -0500> > On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:47:05 -0800, Stephen Black wrote:> >I resisted my own contribution to this thread but can hold off no longer. > >Some observations on the winter solstice:> > And I have some observations on your observations> > >1) [snip] And it may be that it is my haircuts which cause the > > sun to return. > > Thank you for the example of spurious correlation that I will use> in class.> > >2) I think the main reason for appreciation of the solstice is that > >people take it as indicating the point at which the day begins to last > >just a little bit longer than the day before. > > It should be noted that the Winter Solstice is an astronomical event:> it is the moment when the sun shines directly over the tropic of> Capricorn, the greatest distance from the equator. The start and> end of days is another, more complicated matter. See:> http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/dark_days> > >But in fact, this point is > >reached about a week before the solstice. At the latitude where I live, > >between December 4 and December 15th of this year the sun set at 4:11 > >p.m. But on December 16, it set at 4:12 p.m. By the solstice yesterday, > >around here we already had gained a full three minutes of daylight at the > >end of the day. And I enjoyed every minute of it. > > Good for you! I hope that you spent the extra minutes of sunlight > decorating your Festivus pole!> > >3) I have to register my protest against the designation of December 21 > >as "the first official day of winter", as we are repetitively told by the > >media. That may be true when defined in astronomical terms, but in normal > >and historical usage, "winter" refers to the three coldest months of the > >year which, in the Northern hemisphere, are December, January, and > >February. > > Strictly speaking, this is not true as it depends upon the calendar > conventions used in one's society. Quoting the Wikipedia entry on > Winter (standard disclaimers apply:> > |In Celtic nations such as Ireland using the Irish calendar and in > |Scandinavia, the winter solstice is traditionally considered as > |midwinter, with the winter season beginning November 1 on > |All Hallows or Samhain. Winter ends and spring begins on Imbolc > |or Candlemas, which is February 1 or February 2. This system > |of seasons is based on the length of days exclusively. (The > |three-month period of the shortest days and weakest solar radiation > |occurs during November, December and January in the Northern > |Hemisphere and May-July in the Southern Hemisphere.)> > |Also many mainland European countries tend to recognize > |Martinmas, St. Martin's day (November 11) as the first calendar > |day of winter. The day falls at midpoint between the old Julian equinox > |and solstice dates. Also, Valentines Day (February 14) is recognized > |by some countries as heralding the first rites of Spring (season), > |such as flower blooming.> > |In Chinese astronomy (and other East Asian calendars), winter is > |taken to commence on or around November 7, with the Jiéqì known > |as (áì lì dōng, literally "establishment of winter".)> > |The three-month period associated with the coldest average > |temperatures typically begins somewhere in late November or > |early December in the Northern Hemisphere and lasts through > |late February or early March. This "thermological winter" is earlier > |than the astronomical definition but later than the daylight (Celtic) > |definition. Depending on seasonal lag this period will vary among > |climatic regions; typically warm-temperate climates have an earlier > |thermological winter than colder climates.> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter> > >In fact, December 22 (sometimes December 25) has historically > >been called "midwinter's day" (and June 21 (or 24) is "midsummer's day"). > >How can winter have just begun if it's already midwinter?> > Because it depends upon the culture's conventions for dating> astronomical and seasonal events?> > That Cosmopolitan Dude,> -Mike Palij> New York University> m...@nyu.edu > > > > > ---> To make changes to your subscription contact:> > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact:
Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
