Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 12:06:10 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199710231706.MAA05409@locke.ccil.org> Reply-To: bob@rattlesnake.com Sender: Lojban list From: bob@MEGALITH.RATTLESNAKE.COM Subject: Re: stero X-To: mark.vines@wholefoods.com, lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu, bob@rattlesnake.com To: John Cowan In-Reply-To: <971023095525.ZM4152297@thd_vinesm.wholefoods.com> X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Content-Length: 963 Lines: 22 What does {stero} mean? The gi'uste gives the English gloss as "steradian". Unfortunately, neither I nor my dictionaries know what "steradian" means. A steradian is a unit of measurement of solid angle, just as a radian is a unit of measurement of a two-dimensional angle. A radian is the angle subtended by a unit length on the circumference of a circle of unit radius (180/pi degrees or about 57 degrees); a steradian is the solid angle subtended by a unit square on the surface of a sphere of unit radius. `Steradian' is a fairly common term and I am surprised to see that my Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is missing it, too. My OED, which is notorious for lacking scientific terms, has a definition but I find its definition to be hard to understand. -- Robert J. Chassell bob@rattlesnake.com 25 Rattlesnake Mountain Road bob@ai.mit.edu Stockbridge, MA 01262-0693 USA (413) 298-4725