[SI-LIST] Re: surface roughness
- From: <colin_warwick@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <stefan.milnor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:01:42 -0700
Hi Stefan,
I believe Rosenblueth and Wiener were attempting to be semi-humorous. The full
context is here:
http://www.csee.wvu.edu/~xinl/papers/role_model.PDF
"We have shown that scientific knowledge consists of a sequence of abstract
models, preferably formal, occasionally material in nature. We shall now proceed
to examine the results of carrying model-making to the limit. Consider
first material models. They start by being rough approximations, surrogates
for the real facts studied. Let the model approach asymptotically the complexity
of the original situation. It will tend to become identical with that
original system. As a limit it will become that system itself. That is, in a
specific example, the best material model for a cat is another, or preferably
the
same cat. In other words, should a material model thoroughly realize its
purpose,
the original situation could be grasped in its entirety and a model would
be unnecessary. Lewis Carroll fully expressed this notion in an episode in
Sylvie and Bruno, when he showed that the only completely satisfactory map
to scale of a given country was that country itself."
Best regards,
-- Colin
------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from si-list:
si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field
or to administer your membership from a web page, go to:
//www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list
For help:
si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field
List technical documents are available at:
http://www.si-list.net
List archives are viewable at:
//www.freelists.org/archives/si-list
Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at:
http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu
Other related posts:
