From: Raleigh McLemore (raleighmclemore@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Jun 07 2004 - 13:49:12 PDT
Message-ID: <20040607204912.51091.qmail@web40202.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 13:49:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Raleigh McLemore <raleighmclemore@yahoo.com> Subject: Transit of Mercury and Summer Reads
Well, cleaning out my room I realize I have, for the
third time, moved ten beautiful student thermometers
that were given to me by an ancient science teacher.
Problem is they are mercury devices, -20 through 110
degrees C. (F. scale too), made in Japan (the mercury
was fresh squeezed from fish markets there). Each
year, after looking out at the vast sea of excited
science student faces, I have kept them locked up. I
can't throw the d**n things away, can't use them
safely, and have no idea what to do with them. They
come in pretty clear plastic containers with robin's
egg blue end caps and seem quiet and well behaved.
If I don't hear from anyone I will be forced to
abandon them on one of our local public buses...Thus
an unexpected transit of Mercury might occur soon
after Venus does its thing.
To avoid other vile puns please take these
thermometers (no, I won't really do the bus thing!).
Summer Reads. How about pinholers tossing out some
ideas for summer reads?
I liked the book Krakatau, a New York Times
bestseller, although it was science lite, it just
oozed and sweated all kinds of interesting history and
stuff. A great read.
I'm reading "The Moon Hunters" now, a remnant at some
bookstore, which has an interesting history of US
missions to planetary moons. Many questions after
reading this book.
Why is Triton the "...coldest body in the solar
system"? Why? Someone tell me this, as it bothers me
(doesn't it make more sense that Charon or some other
body farther away would be colder)?
With firm handshake,
Raleigh
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