Trade Winds
Seok Gyun Kim
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you
didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade
winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!
[Mark Twain, Pseudonym of Samuel Longhorne Clemens, 1835-1910]
I have a question on the real meaning on the word 'trade winds' above.
Does the word 'trade winds' mean COMFORTABLE winds, or SOMEWHAT DANGEROUS
winds for sailors ? Is Mark saying that we have to catch even weak winds or
to dare to encounter stormy winds for exploring ? I think that Mark is
saying that good winds are blowing for the sailors who want to explore to
discover something new and delightful.
Any comment on the nuances of the 'trade winds' ?
SGKim/000514
D. Spencer Hines
The trade winds are quite specific winds.
Consult any good dictionary and encyclopaedia for more.
--
D. Spencer Hines
Lux et Veritas et Libertas
"It may be said that, thanks to the 'clercs', humanity did evil for two
thousand years, but honoured good. This contradiction was an honour to
the human species, and formed the rift whereby civilisation slipped into
the world." "La Trahison des clercs" [The Treason of the Intellectuals]
(1927) Julien Benda (1867-1956)
All replies to the newsgroup please. Thank you kindly.
All original material contained herein is copyright and property of the
author. It may be quoted only in discussions on this forum and with an
attribution to the author, unless permission is otherwise expressly
given, in writing.
"Seok Gyun Kim" <sy...@channeli.net> wrote in message
news:8flanh$6sp$1...@b5nntp2.channeli.net...
Mark Brader
> Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you
> didn't do than by the ones you did do.
> So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade
> winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!
> [Mark Twain, Pseudonym of Samuel Longhorne Clemens, 1835-1910]
The trade winds are the prevailing winds of the tropical latitudes.
The reader is presumably in the US and far away from such places.
So this is a specific example of his injunction to "Explore!"
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | There is no step function between "safe" and "unsafe".
m...@vex.net | -- Jeff Janes
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Padraig Breathnach
>The trade winds are the prevailing winds of the tropical latitudes.
>The reader is presumably in the US and far away from such places.
>So this is a specific example of his injunction to "Explore!"
It's wonderful how one's beliefs are constantly challenged in this group.
PB
nancy g.
> Here comes a good quote by Mark Twain:
>
> Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by
> the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
> So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
> Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!
> [Mark Twain, Pseudonym of Samuel Longhorne Clemens, 1835-1910]
>
> I have a question on the real meaning on the word 'trade winds'
> above. Does the word 'trade winds' mean COMFORTABLE winds, or
> SOMEWHAT DANGEROUS winds for sailors ?
According to the dictionary, it means
Main Entry: trade wind
Function: noun
Date: 1650
: a wind blowing almost constantly in one direction;
especially : a wind blowing almost continually toward
the equator from the northeast in the belt between
the northern horse latitudes and the doldrums and from
the southeast in the belt between the southern horse latitudes
and the doldrums -- usually used in plural
> Is Mark saying that we have to catch even weak winds or
> to dare to encounter stormy winds for exploring ?
I'd say it's more likely he's telling us we should go out and
find a good, strong wind that will carry us a long distance, off
to great adventures. It doesn't really seem like he's talking
about either weak *or* stormy winds.
> I think that Mark is saying that good winds are blowing
> for the sailors who want to explore to discover something
> new and delightful.
I think you're right. And those "good winds" are
what many sailors commonly refer to as the "trade winds".
N.Mitchum
-----
> Here comes a good quote by Mark Twain:
>
> winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!
>
> Does the word 'trade winds' mean COMFORTABLE winds, or SOMEWHAT DANGEROUS
> to dare to encounter stormy winds for exploring ? I think that Mark is
> saying that good winds are blowing for the sailors who want to explore to
> discover something new and delightful.
When merchant ships ran under sail, their routes on the high seas
used to follow the trade winds, which blew steadily and always in
the same direction. There's nothing in this about weak winds or
storms. Nor do I think Twain's exhortation stresses that there
are "good winds" for explorers; rather, I'd say his nautical
language is meant to capture the romance and excitement of
venturing out from the safety of your known surroundings ("safe
harbor").
----NM
James Follett
aj...@lafn.org "N.Mitchum" wrote:
>Seok Gyun Kim wrote:
>-----
>> Here comes a good quote by Mark Twain:
>>
>> So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade
>> winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!
>>
>> I have a question on the real meaning on the word 'trade winds' above.
>> Does the word 'trade winds' mean COMFORTABLE winds, or SOMEWHAT DANGEROUS
>> winds for sailors ? Is Mark saying that we have to catch even weak winds or
>> to dare to encounter stormy winds for exploring ? I think that Mark is
>> saying that good winds are blowing for the sailors who want to explore to
>> discover something new and delightful.
>>......
>
>When merchant ships ran under sail, their routes on the high seas
>used to follow the trade winds, which blew steadily and always in
>the same direction.
At the risk of being accused of stating the obvious, winds are air
masses moving from a high pressure zone to a low pressure zone. The
corolis effect caused by the earth's rotation means that the winds
tend to behave cyclonically by swinging around the low pressure area.
So, go north to hitch a ride in one direction; go south to hitch a
ride in the opposite direction, but using the same wind system. This
does help develop one's rhumb line sailing skills -- always a pig --
as opposed to plain sailing -- always a doddle.
In Nevil Shute's novel "On the Beach" the author had winds carrying
the fallout of a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere crossing the
equator to carry the nasties into the southern hemisphere. Clever, that.
--
James Follett -- novelist http://www.davew.demon.co.uk
Somehow, Frank Dreben telling a crowd watching an exploding fireword
factory that "there's nothing to see!" isn't funny anymore.
Philip Eden
James Follett wrote in message <20000514.2...@marage.demon.co.uk>...
>At the risk of being accused of stating the obvious, winds are air
>masses moving from a high pressure zone to a low pressure zone. The
>corolis effect caused by the earth's rotation means that the winds
>tend to behave cyclonically by swinging around the low pressure area.
>So, go north to hitch a ride in one direction; go south to hitch a
>ride in the opposite direction, but using the same wind system. This
>does help develop one's rhumb line sailing skills -- always a pig --
>as opposed to plain sailing -- always a doddle.
James, you are more at risk of being accused of having a very
weak grasp of meteorology, but I shall desist.
>
>In Nevil Shute's novel "On the Beach" the author had winds carrying
>the fallout of a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere crossing the
>equator to carry the nasties into the southern hemisphere. Clever, that.
>
The wind systems of the northern and southern hemispheres are
not quite closed systems. On a planetary scale there is little
interaction, most of it taking place at the mescoscale level. If you
do not take my word for it, the penetration of clouds of ejected
volcanic material from an eruption in the northern (southern)
hemisphere into the southern (northern) hemisphere has been
well-documented for well over a century.
--
>James Follett --
Philip Eden
James Follett
<958412622.8308.0...@news.demon.co.uk>
phi...@weather.demon.co.uk "Philip Eden" wrote:
>>In Nevil Shute's novel "On the Beach" the author had winds carrying
>>the fallout of a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere crossing the
>>equator to carry the nasties into the southern hemisphere. Clever, that.
>>
>The wind systems of the northern and southern hemispheres are
>not quite closed systems. On a planetary scale there is little
>interaction, most of it taking place at the mescoscale level. If you
>do not take my word for it, the penetration of clouds of ejected
>volcanic material from an eruption in the northern (southern)
>hemisphere into the southern (northern) hemisphere has been
>well-documented for well over a century.
Thanks, Philip. I said it was clever! The point was that in Mr
Shute's novel, fallout clouds reached Australia from North American
and Northern Europe in pretty well undispersed form.
In the 1960s we had the Russkies lighting the blue touch paper
on 50 megatonne yield fireworks right on our doorstep and, apart
from a bit of a panic over strontium 90 in kiddiwinks milkshakes,
we didn't have to resort to committing mass suicides in our garages
using the fumes from our 100E Ford Prefects. Poor Fred Astaire.
I'm sure he would've been okay if he hadn't been so keen to end it
all.
Mark Brader
>>> In Nevil Shute's novel "On the Beach" the author had winds carrying
>>> the fallout of a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere crossing the
>>> equator to carry the nasties into the southern hemisphere. Clever, that.
>> The wind systems of the northern and southern hemispheres are
>> not quite closed systems. ...
> Thanks, Philip. I said it was clever! The point was that in Mr
> Shute's novel, fallout clouds reached Australia from North American
> and Northern Europe in pretty well undispersed form.
In the movie of "On the Beach", the whole point was that the fallout took
much longer to reach Australia and kill everyone there than it did to kill
to everyone in the northern hemisphere. Even in *dispersed* form there
was enough to go around, so to speak; it just took a while to reach the
southern hemisphere due to the limited amount of air exchanged across the
equator.
I haven't read the book; was this really different in it? Seems unlikely.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto, m...@vex.net
"But even though they probably certainly know that you probably
wouldn't, they don't certainly know that although you probably
wouldn't there's no probability that you certainly would."
-- Sir Humphrey Appleby ("Yes, Prime Minister") on nuclear deterrence
Jens Brix Christiansen
> In the movie of "On the Beach", the whole point was that the fallout took
> much longer to reach Australia and kill everyone there than it did to kill
> to everyone in the northern hemisphere. Even in *dispersed* form there
> was enough to go around, so to speak; it just took a while to reach the
> southern hemisphere due to the limited amount of air exchanged across the
> equator.
>
> I haven't read the book; was this really different in it? Seems unlikely.
In the book, this point is made explicitly and explained very
carefully. As I recall it, there is explicit mention of the seasonal
southward equatorial crossing of the wind systems along Southeast Asia.