"Strong typing vs. strong testing"

[Rob Warnock]

RG  <rNOSPAMon at flownet.com> wrote:
+---------------
| rpw3 at rpw3.org (Rob Warnock) wrote:
| > Write it our longhand and it's easier to grok:
| >     9.8 m/s^2 ==> 9.8 m/(s*s) ==> 9.8 m/(s*s) ==>
| >     (9.8 meters per second) per second.
| >      \                   /
| >       \__ speed added __/   per second
| 
| Oh, that part I get.  It's the abstract squared second that's still a 
| deep mystery to me.
+---------------

As far as I know, there is no "abstract squared second" anywhere,
other than in formulae in which collecting the dimensions (as above)
ends up having an exponent of "2". That is, acceleration really *is*
"(distance / s) / s". It only gets to be "distance/(s^2)" when you
collect terms.

+---------------
| A squared length is easily visualized.  But according to relativity
| space and time are just two aspects of the same thing, so a squared
| second should make some kind of physical sense.
+---------------

Why should it?!? If you look way under the covers, I suspect that even
the "c^2" in "E = mc^2" is a "collected" term in the above sense [that is,
if I recall my classes in introductory special relativity correctly].


-Rob

-----
Rob Warnock			<rpw3 at rpw3.org>
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