Re: Math Lacuna/was Re: LUNA: Re: indigenous fuels

GBurch1@aol.com
Mon, 26 Jul 1999 08:28:39 EDT

In a message dated 99-07-26 00:15:19 EDT, eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de (Eugene Leitl) wrote:

> I believe the fastest way to gain an intuitive understanding for

> orbital mechanics is to write an interactive Newtonian/gravitation
> simulator, and then just fumble with system parameters.

I did this (while I was in law school just to stay sane)! I found the core BASIC code for a gravity simulator in Astronomy magazine some time in the mid 80s and translated it into Apple BASIC for my old steam-powered Apple IIe. Then I built an interface that let me tweak the paramters. I spent dozens of hours playing with it learned a lot . . .

. . . self-confessed math dummy . . .

     Greg Burch     <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
     Attorney  :::  Vice President, Extropy Institute  :::  Wilderness Guide
      http://users.aol.com/gburch1   -or-   http://members.aol.com/gburch1
                         "Civilization is protest against nature; 
                  progress requires us to take control of evolution."
                                      -- Thomas Huxley