> The English language is full examples where it is fruitless trying
> to explain why something is called what it's called.
'Radius of gyration' makes a lot more sense in it's original
I'm learning this all over again doing a course seismic analysis
training with a Chinese engineer. It's hard enough using common
english terms but with engineering jargon (what lawyers call 'terms
of art') it's damn near impossible. Apparently there's something
about English that lends itself to coining phrases. I remember when I
was a co-op at NASA's Marshall center, hearing long conversations in
German frequent (almost unaccented) technical terms, like 'turbulent
boundary layer' or 'guide vanes' popping into into the conversation.
In another life I had a Chinese colleague who did the same thing.
In fact the term 'radius of gyration' makes a lot more sense in its
original usage with rotational motion than it does for structural
engineering. Mathematically they're analogous, but the structural
usage is obscure. And both usages are mathematical abstractions--the
only way you know what they are is doing the calculus or looking up
the results of someone else's calculus. My own opinion is that
origin of an expression is very important because it's a great help
in preventing its mis-use. One of the reasons engineers have a
reputation of being poor writers is sloppy use of jargon and
technical terms.
Christopher Wright P.E. |"They couldn't hit an elephant at
chrisw@skypoint.com | this distance" (last words of Gen.
.......................................| John Sedgwick, Spotsylvania
1864)
http://www.skypoint.com/members/chrisw/
******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
* Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
*
* This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
* Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
* subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
*
* http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
*
* Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
* send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
* without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
* site at: http://www.seaint.org
******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********