It's Just a Number

This morning I couldn't go on my usual 9am bicycle ride because of a meeting with some people in London. I had to wait until the end of the meeting and then quickly changed before heading out. We are having a heatwave here in the Western United States and I felt it today. Normally it is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit but today was closer to 85 on my morning ride.

I thought about the temperature as I rode delirious from the heat. It really is just a number and means different things depending upon circumstances. Think about being outside in 68 degrees Fahrenheit which is the same as 20 degrees Celsius. In the middle of a winter month like February, someone from Boston might think it warm enough to wear shorts. In the middle of a summer month like July, someone from Phoenix might put on a sweater. It validates that if you really want to know what the temperature is, go outside and see for yourself.

Now think about the different scales we use to determine temperature. Daniel Fahrenheit decided to base his numbers with 100 being the temperature of the human body. Yes, he was off by a degree or so, but back then accuracy left something to be desired. He set 0 at the lowest temperature he could get a salt-water mixture. I always thought it was the extremes for human comfort. Knowing the real origin now makes more sense as modern humans are only comfortable between 68 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. That is why we invented air conditioning and central heat.

Contrast the Fahrenheit scale with the rest of the world that uses Celsius. Celsius is very scientific in that 0 defines the temperature that fresh water freezes at sea level and 100 is the temperature it boils. Notice all of the qualifications. That is because water boils at a lower temperature at higher elevation and freezes at a lower temperature if there is salt in it.

So what does this have to do with anything relating to computers? That is a great question. Computers are really good with numbers. They can add and subtract with amazing speed. In order for those numbers to make any sense, they have to be assigned units of measure. Before Italy replaced their currency at the beginning of 2002 with the Euro, there used to be a game with a local radio station called, "Who Wants to be an Italian Millionaire?" At the time 1 million lira used to be worth something like $20 and if you answered a few questions correctly, you received enough winnings to buy lunch. In other words, units of measure really matter. While my computer may tell me the value of a recent calculation, it only makes sense in the context of what was asked. If the result doesn't make sense, then look at the units of measure. Remember that when you look at the temperature outside if it ever says 293 degrees. The unit of measure just might be in Kelvin, yet another way to describe if it is hot or cold outside.