6.0642 Rs: Golden Section; Persian S/W (2/38)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Fri, 2 Apr 1993 15:47:41 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 6, No. 0642. Friday, 2 Apr 1993.


(1) Date: Thu, 1 Apr 93 15:52 CST (20 lines)
From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM>
Subject: A4 paper and the Golden Section

(2) Date: Thu, 1 Apr 93 14:58:50 -0800 (18 lines)
From: blspahr@garnet.berkeley.edu
Subject: Re: 6.0636 Qs: Persian

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 93 15:52 CST
From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM>
Subject: A4 paper and the Golden Section

At the risk of being pedantic, may I point out that the ratio of the two
sides of a piece of A4 paper is not an approximation of the Golden Section?
The 'golden section,' or extreme-and-mean ratio, is the ratio between the
segments of a line so divided that the whole line has to the larger segment
the same ratio as the larger segment does to the smaller. That ratio is,
in fact (1 + sqrt(5))/2 (half the sum of one and the square root of five),
not the square root of two. The property a sheet of A4 paper has is that
if it is halved across its long side, the ratio between the sides of the
half-sheet is the same as the ratio between the sides of the full sheet. But
this means that the long side of the original sheet has to the short side the
same ratio as the short side to *half the long side*. For it to be in ex-
treme-and-mean ratio, the long side would have to have the same ratio to the
short side as the short side to the *difference between* the long and short
sides.
--Robin Smith
Kansas State University
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------125---
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 93 14:58:50 -0800
From: blspahr@garnet.berkeley.edu
Subject: Re: 6.0636 Qs: Persian

> A colleague here at Oxford is looking for a package for
>transliteration of Persian words into Roman characters, preferably for the
>PC. If there aren't any such packages for the PC, Mac information would
>also be appreciated. Any suggestions? Please reply to the
>GRAZYNA@VAX.OX.AC.UK and not to me.
>
> If you know of an interest list in Persian, or of any place that
>might have a Persian font, that would also be useful. Thanks very much!
>

Linguist's Software (POBox 580, Edmonds, WA 98020-0580 USA Tel
206-776-1130, Fax 206 771-5911) advertise a postscript font: LaserPersian
6.0.7 for $99.95. Blake Lee Spahr