Iceberg of Stuttering

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Re: powerful analogy

From: Russ Hicks
Date: 10/10/03
Time: 12:20:30 PM
Remote Name: 12.237.88.139

Comments

Hi Ella,

Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I'm a very visual person and I enjoy analogies. And I especially love it when things fall into place. The most stunning example in recent times was when the people studying DNA all of a sudden realized it was a double helix! That still amazes me! And it turns out that it was absolutely accurate.

Still others that come to mind is the visualization of the solar system as a center "sun/star" with planets revolving around it. And this even extends to the sub-microscopic world of atoms where electrons spin around a central nucleus. We've never even SEEN that, but we know how it works anyway.

But all analogies don't work. In the ancient study of heat, it was postulated that heat was really a fluid called "caloric." And a lot of observations seemed to follow that model. It clearly explained conduction and convection heat, but it broke down completely for radiant heat. How could a fluid cross a total vacuum? The answer: it can't. Back to the drawing boards!

Interesting stuff, isn't it? I'm glad you enjoyed this analogy. And I hope you're enjoying this conference!

Good luck in school and in your future career!

Russ


Last changed: September 12, 2005