From: Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Date: Wed Sep 10 1997 - 18:35:43 MDT
John Clark asks?
: It's a tangential thought but is anyone else irritated by the phrase
: "a quantum jump" when it's supposed to mean a huge change, actually
: it's the smallest possible change, anything smaller is no change at all.
Doesn't bother me a bit. A quantum jump is distinguished from an analog
jump. On the scale of an atom, the smallest possible change is startlingly
big to someone who doesn't know quantum theory. A quantum jump is a
metaphor for qualitative change.
Wanna know what drives me up the wall? Overuses of the word
_intergalactic_. Every space-fantasy is described as intergalactic.
Even Star Trek, which from the beginning has been *explicitly* confined
to one galaxy.
... I once heard someone on radio say
"This will put us years ahead, maybe even light-years."
Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685 *\\* DASher@netcom.com
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