Talk:United States Naval Observatory

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I moved the following paragraph to the comment page because I'm not sure it is appropriate for the article in this form. Articles should never have text written in the first person. --Etacar11 00:48, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Original names and a lot more including the building site and the construction itself are often harder to settle upon. When instruments were first placed in the original they had to be removed due to the faulty work of concrete and dampness. Once that was corrected the expensive instruments were returned. I have a transcribed letter I did that describes the National, uh..- "Naval Observatory" to the President of the United States which I shall place online in due "Time".

[edit] Meterology Vs. Metrology

Meteorology is the study of the earth's atmosphere. The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) could care less about the earth's atmosphere. The USNO has one function. It is to decide where the earth's position in space is with regard to the sun and a few million other solar systems. It does this to determine where in time we are currently located. Time is the measurement of the earth's rotation around the sun. Time is an integral measurement for all sciences. Metrology is the science of "measurement" not of the earth's atmosphere. Time is a fundamental study of Metrology. Please be very careful in the future differentiating between these two separate fields of study. --David.c.h 07:44, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I should have caught that too. Thanks for noting the error. -Will Beback 08:01, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Will: My appologies, my rant was not really addressed at you. I was more concerned about user:MAURY who seemed adamant on keeping meteorology as a category and removing metrology. He may have a legitimate reason for doing so, but for the life of me, I haven't seen the connection as of yet. If he should make the change again, I would only hope that he provides his reasoning for doing so on this talk page. I would also ask him not to delete the category Metrology again.--David.c.h 08:40, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

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David and Will: I included meteorology because of Matthew Fontaine Maury and one of the categories the work he did at the Naval Observatory. I did not know exactly all of what the modern Naval Observatory does. I believe my kinsman, Captain Maury Werth was superintendent there for a few years and he can explain what I desire to know. I was including all of the history at the United States "National/Naval" Observatory whereas you fellows are focused upon only the modern one. It is my belief that a good history, including the past as well as present should be presented. Personally, I am not as fascinated with the year 2000 atomic clock anywhere near as I am of what had to be used and how of the past. I will leave it as it is. I did not see any "rant" or I would have "ranted" back. Do not do such a thing because it is an insult and people will return the offence. The rules here state not to insult one another. I am new here but I am very used to debates on List Servers. So, I ask that any personal attacks or "rants" be left out. They provoke and as such are not needed nor wanted. We are supposed to remain friendly, communicate, and work together.

"The USNO has one function.."

Incredible, it has shrunk from many functions of the past.--Maury

--....Maury 18:57, 1 March 2006 (UTC)