Off-topic circumnavigating the earth in a mile or less [was Re: Significant digits in a float?]

[Chris Angelico]

On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 12:02 AM, Ethan Furman <ethan at stoneleaf.us> wrote:
> Wow.  It's amazing how writing something down, wrongly (I originally had
> north and south reversed), correcting it, letting some time pass (enough to
> post the message so one can be properly embarrassed ;), and then rereading
> it later can make something so much clearer!
>
> Or maybe it was the morning caffeine.  Hmmm.
>
> At any rate, I withdraw my contention, it is clear to me now (at least until
> the caffeine wears off).

It's also amazing how much fun it can be to dig into the actual
mathematics, as a means of dispelling a perceived error :)

So, thank you for posting that, because it forced me to actually map
things out (in my head - didn't feel like using pen-and-paper
geometry, even though this is the most literal form of geo-metry
possible) and figure out exactly how many degrees of latitude it
takes. Good fun!

ChrisA