Re: Tons, tons and more tons - Was: Are Attached files ok?

I generally feel such arguments are a dead end but...

We have 'SJ' tons, a measurement of ship size, always defined as a
measurement of volume.  It also represents a measurement of how much air
a ship of that volume drags along with it.  But the volume measurement
is of the ship itself, not of its air envelope.

There are also 'nautical tons' which are really 'tons displacement' and
represents how much water a ship 'displaces'.  If you hear someone
describe a battleship, for example, as 32,000 tons, that is how many
tons of water the ship displaces as it sits in the ocean.  Not the same
as SJ tons.

And, of course, we have 'tons' as a measurement of weight, and the form most folks here are familair with.


The reason I think these discussions are a dead end, is that none of us
our nautical engineers, and even if if we were, we are not
_Rennaissance_ nautical engineers.

Simply put, we just don't know enough about what we are talking about to not avoid constant, massive error.

I know enough, through my work in nautical history, to see some of the
more glaring errors but that's about it.

And that' not even considering the wonky physics Spelljammer, and magic.  

Best to just take the stats as you are given them and explain inconsistencies as SJ physics and magic. 

IMO, of course.  

-- 
"...How shall a man judge what to do in such times?!"
"As he has ever judged," said Aragorn "Good and evil have not changed since yesteryear..."
J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers_

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer@???????.net