Theos-Talk Archives (August 2002 Message tt00069)

Aug 6 2002

Re: the Science of ancient Measurements. S D and Isis.

Dear Eldon and Friends:

Now that's a wonderful illustration you offer, that, to me
shows one of the reasons why Theosophy uses METAPHYSICS
instead of physics. The source is more valuable than the
effect we can measure on the physical plane. Perhaps it
gave cause for the distinction between "Head" and "Heart"
learning, or the "Eye and the Heart doctrines."


But getting very literal let's see what we use for
measurements:


Where did the Romans get that measurement? Was it handed
down over the eras from the Greeks, Egyptians, Assyrians,
Chaldeans, Babylonians, Medes, Hindus, Chinese, Tibetans,
Mongolians, the early "Aryan (Nobles) races ?"

What was the "cubit" (Parker ratio" -- S D I 313-4.
[Dictionary says 18 inches, or 45.72 centimeters.]
Generally, the dictionary says it was an average measurement
from a man's elbow to the tip of his forefinger.

The Literal ( or Head-Learning ) measure in finite terms
which may be arbitrary. Wasn't it J. Ralston Skinner who
wrote the SOURCE OF MEASURES and pointed to the "cubit" (18
inches) as once, a universal measurement used for building
sacred edifices? [ S D I 264 ]

Involved are Pi, the "Parker ratio" [ S D I 313, 383,
391, II 465, 543-4 (key to Kabbala) I 443-4, II 515-7
(Tree of Knowledge), and a number of symbols (the unfolded
cube -- cross -- as "man") (S D I 321, II 543, 600fn ;
then S D I 392 (on the solar year and moon cycles),
(Jehovah's measure II 38, 388fn, 389.).

Judge in the OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY (p. 17) and H P B in The
SECRET DOCTRINE recount how Piazzi Smyth wrote lengthily on
the "British inch" seeking to establish it as the basis for
the measurements used in the Pyramids.[S D I 314-7, II 466]


Here are some other interesting facts concerning physical
measurements and their variations:


The word "inch" means a twelfth part.

A "foot" is derived from an average measurement of a human
foot. It is set at 1/3 of a yard, or 12 inches or 30,48 cm.

A "cubit" -- 18 inches, or 45.72 centimeters. It is an
average measurement from a man's elbow to the tip of his
forefinger.

A "yard" -- 3 feet or 36 inches, ( 0.9144 meters.)

A "mile" -- (statute mile is 1760 yards or 5280 feet (
1,603.3 meters )

The "geographical or nautical mile" is the measure of "One
Minute of the earth's circumference" or 6080.20 feet
(1853.248 meters). [ 60 minutes make a Degree. The Earth's
circumference is 360 Degrees ]

The Roman mile was 1620 English yards, or 1,482 meters.

This only shows how differences in standard arise. The
metric standard is perhaps the most precise devised so far,
yet certain countries continue to refuse to adopt it and use
it. Endless time is lost in converting measurements in
chemistry and physics. Science has usually adopted the
metric system, but when a result is to be expressed in terms
of engineering and manufacture, and practical application,
there is a reversion to the old cumbersome standards.

For those who like to use the terms "exoteric" and
"esoteric" we might say that Science uses esoteric
measurements and is forced in practice to convert them to
"exoteric" terms when practical PHYSICAL objectives are to
be achieved.

Best wishes,

Dallas

===================



-----Original Message-----
From: Eldon B Tucker [mailto:eldon@theosophy.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 11:31 AM
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Theos-World standards from the past

Here's something funny that I saw at work. (It illustrates
how a
tradition carries on long after its original purpose for
existence
has ended. Perhaps we find the same in some of our
philosophical
ideas? Could there be ideas that relate to the circumstances
of
earlier times that aren't as relevant in today's world?)

-- Eldon

----

OK, for all you would be historians out there. Here's a true
one
that will make you think. Does the statement, We've always
done
it that way ring any bells?

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails)
is 4
feet 8.5 inches.

That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Because that's the way they built them in England, and
English
expatriates built the US Railroads.

Why did the English build them like that? Because the first
rail
lines were built by the same people who built the
pre-railroad
tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did they use that gauge then? Because the people who
built
the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for
building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel
spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon
wheels
would break on some of the old, long distance roads in
England,
because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the
first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their
legions. The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the
initial
ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of
destroying
their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for
Imperial
Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5
inches
is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial
Roman
war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder
what
horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right,
because
the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough
to
accommodate the back ends of two war horses.

Now comes the twist to the story.

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad,
there are
two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main
fuel
tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRB's.

The SRB's are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The
engineers who designed the SRB's would have preferred to
make them
a bit fatter, but the SRB's had to be shipped by train from
the
factory to the launch site.

The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a
tunnel in the mountains. The SRB's had to fit through that
tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad
track,
and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as
two
horses' behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably
the
world's most advanced transportation system was determined
over
two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.

And you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!





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