Xah Lee's Unixism

[Peter Hansen]

CBFalconer wrote:

> Peter Hansen wrote:
>>Brian {Hamilton Kelly} wrote:
>>>wyrmwif at tango-sierra-oscar-foxtrot-tango.fake.org "SM Ryan" wrote:
>>>>There's a story about why railroad tracks are spaced the way they are.
>>>
>>>Is this the one about two Roman horses' arses?  If so, it also accounts
>>>for the physical dimensions of the Space Shuttle's boosters.
>>
>>A quick search using Google will show that while there is a
>>certain amount of truth in the original story, most of the
>>details are wrong, and the final bit about the booster rockets
>>is unsubstantiated.  But it's still a cute story.
> 
> I know nothing about those stories, but it seems reasonable to me
> that the boosters would have been designed to be transportable by
> railroad, which ties their dimensions to track gauge.

You know, it's really rather helpful when people take the time to
read the things they are trying to discuss, since quite often
those things end up answering questions that those people
might have.

See the snapes.com article that Dave Hansen (no relation) posted
for more... and a response to your reasonable thoughts above.

-Peter