[APG Public List] place names

[DonnDevine at aol.com]

Larry wrrote:
 
>I'd like to explore options for rationalizing the use of  coordinates in 
conjunction with the use of place names.  Seems to me a  few simple 
guidelines would allow someone to tell when coordinates were  
representative 
of  the whole township and when they referred to a  specific, (almost) 
exact 
location within the township.

>then it  wouldn't matter whether historical names or modern names were 
used 
as they  would all be available by referencing the coordinates they share.
 
It seems to me this can be easily accomplished by cutting back the  decimal 
places in the geographic coordinates until they are general enough  to 
encompass the entire village, town, county or whatever other area is is being  
referenced.
 
Data results should never be reported with more precision than  the least 
precise input justifies. I vividlyremember an undergraduate college  
professor who would shout "You lie!" when an aspiring engineering student  proudly 
announced a problem solution to four decimal  places, derived using 
five-place log tables, when one of the  input measure had only three significant 
figures.
 
Pi may be 3.14159, but the circumference of a 12.0-inch circle is at  best 
only 37.7 inches--not the 37.69908 inches a calculator may  show.
 
Donn Devine

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