Perfect Christmas Gift for a Physicist

It's available for $145 plus tax if anyone was looking to get me something for Christmas.

http://store.basbrun.com/

You could get the kit for $85 (or persuade someone to get it for you) and have some holiday fun assembling it. Good excuse to get away from noisy kids!

This is gorgeous -- looks a bit like a Mondrian painting. I would love to give you a gift, and you certainly deserve a lovely piece of art like this clock, but Mr. Best in Show might wonder why you get the clock and he gets socks and handkerchiefs :-).

I think a Mathematician would love a Fibonacci clock.

I have one of these in my den.

Now that's a clock a Mathematician would love. Perfectly accurate, but requires random obscure knowledge to understand.

I've been trying to tell what time it is on your random obscure clock.

Nice!

Time for a cold Stroh's.

Double the headache?

right. the stuff of graduate students, that and pizza.

Isn't it obvious? It's almost Ø past √90.

which direction are the arms moving?

Unlike Lyn's elegant reverse clock the irrational clock arms move clockwise.

I thought Lyn's reverse clock hands ran CCW as in one I saw many years ago. This would tell the correct time using the dial numbers, but could mess with your head a bit.

They do run counterclockwise.

I believe that's what he said.

Mine has an orange sweep second hand, for those who get confused.

Where did you find this, or was it a gift? Or did you make it? Quite striking.

http://www.cafepress.com/+cafepress+clocks

I see your bid and raise you one custom site: https://www.zazzle.com/math+clocks

This one strikes me as interesting to the thread on threes.

I see your overpriced zazzle, and call with Amazonian zeal....

https://www.amazon.com/Decodyne-Math-Clock-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B00F4BOVAU

Even a fifth grader can read that clock.

I think most fifth graders will wonder why some of the 3 on that clock are louder than others.

Yelling threes, is this really the new math taking effect?

What three!

THE ONE OVER YOUR HEAD!!!

Falling threes are a hazard in icing conditions.

Pardon my shouting the alarm!

Today the only one that pray using Old English words such as thee and thou, is Floki.

Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson

Floki, the first Norseman to set foot on the Land of the Gods (Iceland), after certain Irish monks, in one of the scenes thanks the Allfather for allowing him to live there among the gods, but also confesses he must return as gods will back to share his discovery with his people, and very reverently speaks apologetically to the Allfather, using the formalism "thee". Vikings may indeed have been pagans, but they were exceedingly religious in their beliefs, fervent in prayer (at least some of them), and devoted to their gods. One could never find such fearless fighters.

Are they teaching algebra at 5th grade these days? ...or does the new math teach equations without algebra?

...scratches head...answers a befuddled "I dunno".

Yes, the sixth grade.

No, that is the Christmas dartboard I have been working on.

I bet that gives the Agriculture majors in your family a headache every time they see that. LOL!

What agriculture majors? My mother with a BS double major in Biology and English gave me this clock. My sister with a medieval studies degree finds it hysterical.

Surely it is the picture of simplicity....not. I like the clock, I just find it easier to read the ones with integers on the dial face.

Integerphobic IMHO.

what... no '' hand?

We prefer the term "preowned" (it sounds posher) .

even thou it customary to play with words as of late here on CR4....

second hand as in 30º 17' 43"...

when one has to explain oneself... it loses a lot. And that really makes be feel bad... ... ok, I'm over it now.

Question is, to whom are you explaining?

Who said, I need an audience....

...with whom do you desire an audience? The Pope is booked up, as I understand it.

I require none,... just like my audience attendance , I perform at a empty house, 2 shows a night, 3 nights a week...

I like this one for retired people...

This one for procrastinators...

This one is takes too long to figure out the time....for clock watchers...

This displays the futility of time....

My favorite, only works when the Sun is out....

Hey, that last one works for Aggies, even when the sun is not out. They have these awesome flashlights (torches in England).

I had one of these in my office before I retired. Now, I can't remember where I put it.

My hairdresser has one like that on the wall behind the chair, so you can see it in the mirror. The figures mirror-imaged too.

A coworker at Argonne National Lab before I left there in 1969 had one of these. I haven't seen one since.

I hung it in the conference room before a meeting one day.

I have seen time stand still in these meetings, but not run backwards...just sayin'.

Did it run contrary to everything we hold dear?

Ahhhh, an Australian clock. Nice!

Talking of clocks, reminds me of something that occurred in the late 90's. I was a lecturer in marine engineering in a TAFE college in South Australia and they had just employed a couple of casual lecturers to assist in the fitting and machining area.

One of these "newbies" was sitting at his desk, preparing a lecture on moments and asked, "which way is clockwise, I have forgotten because I have a digital watch?" I politely replied, "you are joking, AREN'T YOU."..........he said no.

I was rather dumbfounded.........so I directed his attention (not so politely) to the standard type clock on the office wall, and told him to work it out for himself.

Needless to say, he did not last very long at this particular workplace.

Knowing which way is clockwise is rapidly going away, as is the ability to tell what time it is without a digital watch, writing in cursive, knowing how to add and subtract in your head, using a library to read books or do research, and so much more.

I couldn't agree more with your comments..........it has me wondering what schools teach nowadays.........probably "underwater basket weaving," etc., they certainly do not seem to teach the basic three "R's"

Interesting what young ones do in take away food places and other businesses when the computers "fall out of their trees"

I went to hungry jacks some time ago and the computers were down.......I knew what I had to pay and I was watching the girl trying to work out my change (with pencil and paper), she did it three or four times and told her it was incorrect each time..........the manager came over and asked if there was a problem.........I said, no! Just leave it until she gets it right. After another couple of incorrect calculations, I told her the correct amount of change owing and even showed her how to work it out......with pencil and paper.

So much for education.

I was teaching marine engineering full time up until 2 years ago at 75+ years of age. I expected older students to have problems with the maths components of the courses, but, I would reckon that about 90% of the younger ones who had just come out of high school (or within 2-3 years of coming out) also had trouble, and in the lower grade courses the maths was not that difficult...........and the spelling and English grammar, etc., in their examinations........well that's another story........but, not a better one I'm afraid..........I had to get many students back to explain what they had written.

it has me wondering what schools teach nowadays......

its not good, a lot has to do more with indoctrination. And it didn't happen over night. But was a creep. I've noticed even as a young student at 12-13 years old in the 60's and 70's. education was switch over to a new style of learning. Work at you're own pace,... you're special,

Maybe the original intent was to instilled confidence in oneself, but instead instill arrogance and a false sense of self importance. And then the education kept creeping in the direction to a more liberal attitude of teaching in a bad way.

You see it here, students posting looking for others to do their work.

In college in the 80's, I enjoyed my professor that taught calculus... He said right off the bat,... he does not grade math on the 'bell curve'. Math, you either know it, or don't, its black and white. ( I have to say,... even if you got the wrong answer, if you did the proofs, and it was correct with the only problem being you missed the sign he'd give you credit because you could see 'what he called the foot print in the sand' on solving the problem)

Well, the mortality rate of getting through that class was pretty high. And the students that failed or ended up dropping out, complained, gather petitions, sit-ins, etc... to try to get the teacher to change or get fired. But fortunately, at that time, there still were the majority of students, that came to learn...

And when I took a few night classes about 5 years ago,... the minority of the students came to learn, while the majority of students thought just showing up is a passing grade.

I don't think that I ever stopped learning.......when I was at school, I guess I failed to see the efficacy of many of the things that I was taught.......even after leaving school I joined the Royal Australian Navy, and did a 5 year apprenticeship and served 13+ years......the first four years were training ashore and the fifth year at sea. I had no problem with the marine engineering........but, the academic side of things I only just scraped through.......I guess my thoughts were, "what do I need this crap for to maintain and run engineering machinery and systems on a sea going ship.

I guess in the long run I eventually did benefit from the academic side.......maths, thermodynamics, physics, chemistry, etc..........when I really felt the benefit of all that learning was after I left the RAN as a Chief ERA (Engine Room Artificer) and started teaching marine engineering and it was amazing how things came back to me on the academic side of things...........it wasn't until then that I fully grasped the necessity of the academics........I even ended up as a senior lecturer in marine engineering for many years.........and I will admit I never stopped learning in all those years and even today, retired, as I am, I still enjoy learning.

I don't think that I ever stopped learning.......

Agree, and it can be humbling... I currently taking night courses in the proto-type lab. the local Tech College and I feel fortunate to do so.

when I was at school, I guess I failed to see the efficacy of many of the things that I was taught.......

For me it was different,.. I loved school... the work was easier than on the farm. Not that I was a stellar student,... But I did do enough to get by. I could have done better.

maths, thermodynamics, physics, chemistry, etc..........

In college, that's where I loved it and how it was all connected and where I realized, I could have done better in High School.

I agree with most of what you have said.

I graduated from high school in 1965.

Today we have boys in 6th and 8th grades, and my biological children graduated from high school many, many years ago.

One of the fundamental problems in education is THE PARENTS. Or, sadly, the parent in a lot of cases, and our modern, distraction filled lifestyle.

Kids need motivation that they don't always get at home, especially in single parent families. Sometimes it's not all the parent's fault, even single parent's kids can excel.

This crosses all racial, political, class and social boundaries.

Kids need motivation....

That was me.... but for different reasons.... I always could find and took the easy path when I saw an opportunity... In a way, it helped me later in life in my career as a designer for new product development.

Fortunately, I realized that in my senior year in high school, but I always felt where I'd be if I realized it sooner.

As far as parents fault... in a way that's true... but I can tell you my parents made dam sure whose fault it really is and who should know better.

The punishment was bad enough, but the drive or be driven home to find out what would be the punishment was always the worse for me. All from the Imagination of a teenager.

Yes. Shockingly, I totally agree. I think that perhaps, the present curriculum is somewhat diluted in some areas, and too focused on other things that don't really help students think with any focus toward critical analysis in life.

Being able to make sound decisions is a real plus in life, as I am sure we all would agree. Lots of pain is avoided when that is the case.

How and where did you get "educated" to write such an editorial mess? And how dare you comment on anyone else's education?

Stop being such a pompous ass.

It’s what I experienced... and I stand by that everyone should have a right to a higher education, but not everyone should.

Yep, many are more suited for an apprenticeship program.

There is a strong push now just for that at the local technical colleges... with the apprentice programs. After which the pay is great, and you Educational expenses are minimal if not a company may even it up.

one other thing I noticed though that I’m disappointed about the local technical colleges... these apprentice programs is that they are dropping direct courses, such as welding, machine shop where people can’t enroll in just that course, unless tpyou are enrolled in a apprenticeship program.

I hate to pollute this up more with off topics where this topic could hold up to a thread of its own. But this is an interesting talk from Apples CEO Tim Cook about having to send work/jobs over to China.

It has less to do with cheap labor, which China lost years ago, but more as a highly trained vocational resource instead... as opposed to this country.

I have seen a video of this talk, and am looking for it... when I find it, I’ll post it.

Found it, don’t know if the video like will work. If it doesn’t hit the hyperlink.

Yep! it works. Thanks!

I disagree. It could stand a bit of proof reading, but it's not a mess.

You are correct, it has more to do with proof reading and nothing else.

tornado should realize because he has corrected me in the past whether it be grammar, spelling or any other type of syntax, even though it won’t help much because on blogs I normally don’t proofread, yet, I do appreciate it,.

It more less has to do with something else what ever that may be, he’s just taking it out the best way he can.

It’s more wide spread than a few want to admit.

The total lack of ability to drive from one place to another without a sat. nav. is one that worries me.

It affects people who earlier in their lives were completely competent with a road atlas. I guess that they could still cope if they were forced to, but, younger people who have grown up without ever having to learn have absolutely no idea.

Still I suppose it works both ways: my son thinks I'm a complete moron because I don't know how to use my phone as a sat. nav.

If I'm driving alone in unknown territory I use my 'phone as a sat. nav. (Google maps with voice control, other products are available), but if I'm with my daughter, I make her use a road atlas (or sometimes an OS map, if I have the relevant sheet).

Getting her to use maps efficiently an accurately is particularly effective if I'm taking her somewhere she must be by a specified time (auditions etc.)

Only a few generations ago, our families in America were the pioneers. No one had sat nav. Heck, if they had maps at all, they were rudimentary. People traveled by the names of landmarks that stood out against the horizon, for example, dog's tooth pass (if such a place existed), or old man in the mountain, or eagle point, or tres piedras.

I think our ancestors did not get lost, because they knew where the moss is on the trees, and where the north star is. How many kiddos these days even know where the sun comes up (hint: not entirely east, depending on the time of year and hemisphere.) Furthermore, a horse generally will remember where his/her barn is.

In each hemisphere, there are constellations to guide us at night, but I doubt these kiddos even know what a constellation is.

Schools stopped teaching horse sense, and started teaching political nonsense.

Your sons and daughters may not see you as brilliant while they are early to mid teens, but wait until they are out of the nest, and see how smart you become.

So basically, we are only at most one generation away from the future in H.G.Wells "The Time Machine". The general population will be the Eloi (effectively cattle, or lemmings), and the controllers will be the Morlocks, genetic mutant predatorial half-beasts.

Information is totally unnecessary when all you have available to do is eat, sleep, and procreate.

The party's over. <Beam me up Scotty.>

.........or.........the earth sucks, beam me up Scotty.

This is "proof" that there is no such thing as gravity........."the earth sucks"