Originally Posted by DnvrFox
Since my back recovery, I have consistently been riding 20-25 miles each and every day (sometimes more). But I don't keep exact miles any more. And besides, with any standard error of measurement calculation, just how exact can one be on a bicycle with a computer that can be calibrated to only about the nearest tenth of a mile or so, if one is lucky?
The argument of significant digits and measuring miles to the 1/100th calls to mind the perfect illustration.
Senior year in engineering school.....mechanics of fluid class.......Dr. W , the professor, is as old and dry as they come......flips a coin every day to determine whether or not to have a pop quiz. The man is rumored to have no sense of humor.
This is 1973. Hand held calculators as a practical tool are new. They can multiply, divide and do square roots, but you can't yet regulate the number of digits it shows. You still had to have a slide rule for the logarithms unless you had $400 of those 1973 dollars for an HP.
Bill N. takes his pop quiz, and includes answers such as 72.68759468 gallons/minute or 15.67938948 feet/second or some such on all of his answers. From a practical standpoint Bill, one of the brighter students, has perfect paper.
However, old Dr. W. marks him wrong on the sixth or seventh digit of each answer, and gives him a grade of 99.567982 for the test. He made his point. And we just thought the man had no sense of humor.
You have to be a little of number nerd to appreciate this story.