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Re: (meteorobs) Re: potentially hazardous objects (PHA's)

In a message dated 98-02-28 07:57:45 EST, you write:

<< Perhaps Kevin and the person who called the statistical equation on impacts
complete nonsense would like to see this branch of mathematics pulled from
books stores and campuses in the world because they cannot count the bodies
each year from impacts and if obviously give comes to false conclusions.  
 This is an example of Absolutely no appreciation for deep time. I have some
land for these folks on a riverside flood plain. 
 We tend to accept on an everyday level that the past 200 years are pretty
representative of the history of the earth;  impact have not been a problem in
that time and so we assume they basically  are not a problem at all. We are,
as a species, much better at dealing with  frequencies than probabilities, and
we have no experience of the frequency of impacts. If you think in deep time
-- that is, if you think about  periods of time too long to be of relevance to
a single human life or to a family -- the picture looks different. Since the
last ice age there have
 probably been a hundred impacts that would have wiped out cities had one been
in the wrong place at the wrong time; there has probably been at least one big
enough to have wiped most traces of civilisation from around the
 rim of one of the major ocean basins." >>


Let's stop being silly now. The statement that was made was that statistically
20 deaths a year were supposedly caused by meteorite falls. I made a statement
that in the years that I have been reading my journal there haven't been 20
recoveries a year never mind deaths. 

First off don't put words in my mouth. I said nothing about pulling books off
store shelves. I AM alluding to the fact that all statistics cannot be taken
at face value. Nothing more. If we have, say a 1/2 dozen reported falls a
year, how are 20 people being killed by 6 meteorites. And what does this have
to do with deep time?  We were talking about a year - that means one year. 

Being an amateur fossil collector and a fan of dinosauria I have full
understanding of history being more than 200 years in the past. Yes, I know
that there have been extinctions on a regular basis that may have been blamed
on the cosmos but so what? As an amateur astronomer who also relishes deep sky
objects along with my meteors I completely understand the aspect of deep time.
Deep Sky enthusiasts talk about light years in terms of time and not distance.
What does this have to do with meteor observing anyway? Or are you just
trolling? 
Never mind, I don't need a reply, I'm not interested .

Kevin