[PW] Project-Wombat-FM Digest, Vol 15, Issue 1

[Hadden, Robert L ERDC-TEC-VA]

Dear Barbara J. Bussart:
	What you are looking for is called an "imponderable." This is a
question that sounds reasonable, but the answer changes with the parameters
of the question. "What is the tallest mountain?" for example, has three
answers- Mt. Everest for height above sea level, Mauna Loa (spelling?) from
underwater base to summit, and for the greatest distance from the center of
the earth, Chimborazo in Ecuador.
	Your answer, if you think about it, also has multiple and
non-quantifiable answers. For coastal states, do you want the coastal length
at high tide or at low tide? There would be significant differences- think
about the California coastline and what only a few feet difference in length
would mean along such a long coast? How far up a river mouth, on both sides,
do you count for a river that enters the sea? Do you count islands, such as
the Outer Banks of NC, and do you count the whole perimeter of the islands,
or the mainline coast AND the island coasts? For those states on the
Mississippi, how do you count a change in river channel?
	So unless a state has established borders and straight lines, the
question is an imponderable. 
	A better question would be an estimate of the area of a state in
square miles, which is inaccurate but the results can be compared to other
states with the same inaccuracy. Often, this is based on a smooth line along
the three-mile limit of coastal waters, and thus avoids many of the accuracy
problems outlined above. This information can be found in the Statistical
Abstract of the US, Almanacs or other reference books. Obviously, it is
easier to measure the volume of a flask (say, an upright 2 liter bottle of
Pepsi-Cola) than it is to measure a volume for a foaming puddle of Pepsi on
the sidewalk. 
	But I'm not even sure how you would accurately measure the coastline
of Louisiana, either before Hurricane Katrina, or afterwards. Or if you
could, who would put their name and professional reputation on a number that,
by its nature, will change, perhaps even when being measured?
	For the best discussion about how state borders were established, and
when and how, see the US Geological Survey  Professional Paper #909, 1976,
OCLC: 02273349.
	FYI, the bar bets are the only thing worse to answer than
imponderables. But everyone expects an easy and simple answer to complex
questions, if only they ask the question simply enough.
	Good luck in answering your patron. (Now, if only we could measure
luck accurately, both good and bad. Instead of a meter stick, we could use a
"Golden Rule" or "Golden Ruler" to measure the luck until we find the pot of
gold. Would that start a whole new system of Leprechaun Mathematics?)

Lee

R. Lee Hadden
Geospatial Information Library (GIL)
Topographic Engineering Center
ATTN: CEERD-TO-I (Hadden)
7701 Telegraph Road
Alexandria, VA 22315-3864
(703) 428-9206
Robert.L.Hadden at erdc.usace.army.mil

See some of my writings, both online and on paper, at my author page at:
http://www.librarything.com/author/haddenrobertlee

-----Original Message-----
------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 11:43:55 -0500
From: "Barbara Bussart" <>
Subject: Re: [PW] length of state borders
To: list at project-wombat.org
Message-ID:
	<97646ee30703010843i7b364601p1f1e4acb22572ef0 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hi -

We have a patron wanting to know the circumference of each of the United
States.  I have searched the internet until I'm blue in the face, and have
found the length of the international boundaries between US/Canada and
US/Mexico, and I was able to discover the length of each of the NSEW sides
of North Dakota, but have had no success with the other states.  We queried
Providence about one of their titles, but it did not contain this
information.  Another library in our consortium said that the patron would
have to go there to use their resource (I am assuming that there was no nice
neat chart, and that the info would have to be culled for each state).
Does anyone have a resource that contains a chart/list of this information
that they can share with us?  Our patron does not want the area (easily
found), or the coastline (also readily available).

Thanks!

Barbara J. Bussart
Woonsocket Harris Public Library
303 Clinton St.
Woonsocket, RI 02895
401-767-4124 (voice)
40767-4120 (fax)