Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
gyrocompass point
English answer:
imaginary
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
Aug 19, 2018 09:42
5 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
gyrocompass point
English
Art/Literary
Aerospace / Aviation / Space
They had hardly gotten into the air when the ’copter’s loudspeaker came on. “Emergency announcement. There is a small party of Bleekmen out on the open desert at *gyrocompass point* 4.65003 dying from exposure and lack of water. Ships north of Lewistown are instructed to direct their flights to that point with all possible speed and give assistance. United Nations law requires all commercial and private ships to respond.”
--quoted from Martian Time-Slip (1964, science fiction) by Philip K. Dick (link: https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&tbm=bks&ei=cDV5W89...
The story happened on Mars. I have no idea whether the reading of "the gyrocompass point 4.65003" has a reality basis or was just imagined by the author.
In the story, this is a public announcement for all aircrafts on the fly at that time, so 4.65003 stands for an absolute location rather than a relative one. I think it's a little weird that a spot can be located just by a single reading instead of longitude/latitude readings.
Thank you for your help!
--quoted from Martian Time-Slip (1964, science fiction) by Philip K. Dick (link: https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&tbm=bks&ei=cDV5W89...
The story happened on Mars. I have no idea whether the reading of "the gyrocompass point 4.65003" has a reality basis or was just imagined by the author.
In the story, this is a public announcement for all aircrafts on the fly at that time, so 4.65003 stands for an absolute location rather than a relative one. I think it's a little weird that a spot can be located just by a single reading instead of longitude/latitude readings.
Thank you for your help!
Responses
| 4 +2 | imaginary |
Charles Davis
|
Change log
Aug 20, 2018 11:37: Charles Davis Created KOG entry
Responses
+2
52 mins
Selected
imaginary
Taken literally, this doesn't make any sense. It's science fiction, not science fact. Dick is just using it to suggest some sort of navigation system of the future, in which a gyrocompass will somehow be able to act like a GPS device and pinpoint a precise location.
Firstly, a real gyrocompass is a compass: it tells you in which direction you are currently heading as a number of degrees from north. Moreover, it's used on ships and is not suitable for aircraft. It cannot possibly identify a particular point on a planet.
As for the idea of a single number identifying a location, in theory you could devise a system in which longitude and latitude coordinates are combined in a single number, though you would surely need more digits than this. But a number of the form 4.65003 as the identification of a location has no basis in fact, to my knowledge.
Firstly, a real gyrocompass is a compass: it tells you in which direction you are currently heading as a number of degrees from north. Moreover, it's used on ships and is not suitable for aircraft. It cannot possibly identify a particular point on a planet.
As for the idea of a single number identifying a location, in theory you could devise a system in which longitude and latitude coordinates are combined in a single number, though you would surely need more digits than this. But a number of the form 4.65003 as the identification of a location has no basis in fact, to my knowledge.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you very much!"
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