>Fisher's Second Law involves estimating the cost of any automotive
>project, and is borrowed from the well-known universal metric conversion
>formula [McKenzie, Douglas and McKenzie, Robert]:
>
> Double it and add thirty.
>
>Thirty is actually a percentage of the subtotal (not of the original
>estimate, as some people interpret it).
In defense of the original formula of Messrs. McKenzie, the "30"
signifies a numerical value, not a percent. The reason is clearly
illustrated in this paraphrased version of Messrs. McKenzies' article
published in "Strange Brew" -- vinyl audio format:
"To convert to metric, just double it and add thirty."
"So... what if I drank a six-pack of beer?"
"Easy.... You double it -- twelve... and then you add thirty. That
gives 42 metric beers"
Obviously, if Fisher's Second Law was used in this case, though it may
indeed by used properly when applied to British cars, one would only
have 15.6 metric beers. Just a friendly reminder to use each law when
it is applicable
>I'm sure I have some more, but I'll have to think about them for a while.
>Anyone else?
>--Scott
Sure, I'll attempt to add something:
TIMOTHY'S FIRST LAW OF FALSE ECONOMY
------------------------------------
If one compares the amount of money one saves on auto repairs by providing
one's own free labor ($free) to the additional amount of money one spends
on parts ruined by that "free labor" ($wasted), one will find that the
following holds true at any given point in time:
($free)/($wasted) = ln Q
where Q is not a constant, but a value proportional to the following:
T -- the time spent sworking on the auto in question
K -- total number of skinned knuckles over auto repair lifetime
P -- number of parts destroyed by using wrong tool for right job
G -- value of garage facilities, including tools and working space.
1/r - where r is the number of visits to Midas, JiffyLube, etc
C -- the volume of hand cleaner/degreaser used over lifetime
etc.
Note: Q shows no apparent link to the number of hours spent watching TV
shows about working on cars.
Since the above relationship is empirically derived, any additional (and
more humorous) information on further proportionalities is requested.
COROLLARY
---------
If lnQ is greater than 1, you are a mechanic.
If lnQ is less than 1, you are a hobbyist.
One additional comment on Fisher's Laws. Newton's repudiation of action at
a distance may not be important. The Bell Inequalities, which form a basis
for the theory of Quantum Mechanics, shows that making a measurement on an
unknown wavefunction will collapse that wavefunction to a known state and
will also collapse a related wave function at a distance. "Information" can
thus travel faster than the speed of light, which I assume is also the case
with the examples provided by Fisher. In addition, "Quantum Mechanics" has
"Mechanics" in the title which, in addition to spawning hundreds of cute
T-shirts depicting people sworking on "quantums", immediately makes one
think of cars. And some say there is no order to the universe....
Tim "My Physics degree finally became useful" Radsick
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