The Size of the Moon - Objectivity 289

We look at some awesome Moon-related material at the Royal Society after taking a 'lucky dip' into their card catalogue. More links below ↓↓↓
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[@vesteel]

The moment you expect Keith can't get any better, he casually drops the piece of lore that one of his librarian ancestors is no other than Walter White?!?!???

[@willhouse]

Yeah... Gotta love decendants of high-quality NAACP chairs! 🫡😘

[@bsebire]

You're goddamn right

[@Rubrickety]

I’m delighted by the phrase “both of a bigness”.

[@EebstertheGreat]

Apparently "bigness" could just mean "size" back then, even for a small size. In _Paradise Lost,_ John Milton describes the earth in comparison to heaven as "in bigness as a Starr Of smallest Magnitude close by the Moon." It's confusing on two fronts: by "smallest magnitude," he actually means in modern terms "highest magnitude," i.e. least bright, and by "bigness" he means "smallness."

[@OLLE3770]

This is ASMR but with information for me. Never ever stop doing this.

[@trulyinfamous]

The cursive writing of the moon paper is wonderfully legible. I find it beautiful.

[@CarrotConsumer]

It's funny how something that would be the subject of a middle school science project today gets the full royalty society treatment in the 18th century.

[@lo1bo2]

Apparently documenting it in fancy handwriting gives it more gravitas.

[@wtspman]

The first letter is an amazing example of peer review recommendation to accept without changes. Anyone who has ever submitted a manuscript dreams this outcome might be possible, but it’s never what you actually get. It would be interesting to know what was the paper that received this miraculous recommendation. The second one: meh! So he shows that we estimate distance to an object by its angular span (and that we can get it wrong), but he doesn’t do anything to show that it’s related to the perceived elevation of the object. No wonder he got a lot of criticism and had to produce a follow-up.

[@Xatzimi]

I do so enjoy Keith's sense of humour. Of course, I know he's not fooling anyone with that Walter White bit, the man wrote a thesis on Twin Peaks after all

[@CoolAsFreya]

That was a great pull from the gloves of destiny, my trick is holding your thumb out at arms length, the moon's relative size in the sky is always about the size of your thumb nail

[@Olhado256]

The banter between Brady and Keith keeps getting better!

[@AskMrScience]

If you moon the moon....

[@Yezpahr]

Your comment needs more likes.

[@U014B]

The reason it works is because you're asserting dominance which causes the moon to shrink in submission.

[@imallfordabulls]

1:02 Keith’s reaction 😅

[@FPSNecromancerBob]

I'm gonna tell people this is the origion of the phrase mooning.

[@465maltbie]

That guy had awesome handwriting, thanks for sharing. Charles

[@olivier2553]

Yesterday evening we had a moon celebration in our small town in the middle of nowhere Thailand, full menu with est drums, dragon and white Dame.

[@AdityaMehendale]

0:58 - do I need to keep my pants up, or down at that time? Joke, it's a joke..

[@Rebius]

as long as the pants are not obstructing the view of the moon, the position of the pants doesn't matter :D

[@rtpoe]

So you want to moon the Moon?

[@AdityaMehendale]

@@rtpoe Well, that way the moon stays exactly as large. ..well, depends on my eating habits too, I guess..

[@SolaceEasy]

Go ahead - put it in your mouth.

[@hive_indicator318]

9:00 the proper term for us is "moonthusiast"

[@kidmohair8151]

lunatic? (sorry. had to)

[@Muonium1]

I distinctly recall this moon illusion phenomenon being a significant story in the news around 2 decades or so ago. The nearest paper I can find from the era which would have made a significant splash in media would be the fairly widely cited "Explaining the moon illusion" from 2000 in PNAS by father and son team Kaufman and Kaufman.

[@DuncaR]

Keith is just hilarious

[@gusbert]

Coincidence that last night was a "super moon" where the moon IS actually bigger (by 14%) but at sunset the moon was really low on the horizon and looked huge! Wish I could have tried out the "between the legs" trick.

[@RFC3514]

It's 14% bigger than an _apogean_ Moon (i.e., when it's at its _furthest_ from the Earth). It's not "14% bigger" than _average,_ and it's basically indistinguishable from the previous night.

[@gusbert]

@@RFC3514 Sorry, I must have mis-typed, I apologise for saying "14% bigger than average". Also, sorry for saying "14% bigger than the previous night", I don't know what I was thinking!

[@RFC3514]

@@gusbert - You said "last night was a super moon where the Moon is bigger by 14%". Since you didn't say _compared to what,_ the two logical conclusions are "bigger by 14%" _than its normal size_ or "bigger by 14%" than the night _before_ that one (or tonight). Neither is true. It's only "bigger by 14%" is you compare it to the _smallest_ size it could have. And it's going to be pretty much the same size tonight as last night. So by all means go try out the "between the legs" trick, it'll work the same.

[@gusbert]

@@RFC3514 Jeez, get a life mate.

[@RFC3514]

@@gusbert - Get some character.

[@SolaceEasy]

Released the day after a partial lunar eclipse.

[@santos.l.halper1999]

I feel like that top right drawer in the corner has some bangers in it.... and they're all classic hits!

[@hasone3354]

this place is literally infinite content

[@pierQRzt180]

Digging the archives is a wonderful idea. It should be done with all major national archives

[@Formulka]

Brady pulls a random card among thousands, a letter from James Paget. Keith immediately knows that it's a surgeon. Does he know literally everything?

[@helloiamchuck]

I feel like a missed opportunity is in the engraved illustration @6:40, which is obviously cut from some other source. The name of the engraver is J. Mynde, who is likely James Mynde, a well-known English engraver and printmaker active from 1720-1760. I'd like to know where the illustration came from.

[@robinagreer]

Have you ever picked the first and last card?

[@florianlipp5452]

Nice watch, Brady. Glad to see, you are doing good for yourself.

[@jo1e-de-v1vre]

Fantastic video! Love the white gloves of destiny

[@Vardagaladhiel]

Can’t believe Brady managed to get a paper on the moon!

[@cgull1234]

What a fascinating video once again! I always wonder how long some of these documents have sat dormant since the last time someone interacted with them and who & when will next open these records next, if ever.

[@roku_nine]

What a coincidence! Japan is celebrating the Autumn's Moon Festival! Which is a big deal in Japan for some reason!

[@bradleysampson8230]

I just love Brady’s work. I miss Hello Internet.

[@bearcladxd]

Gotta say kudos on the purple suit Keith! Looks good on ya

[@RFC3514]

1:46 - How did he not notice "Walter White"...?

[@BlackHoleForge]

I almost didn't recognize brady with those new glasses. Good thing I know his voice.

[@bigsarge2085]

I'm not falling for that old gag! 😉

[@BM-gk6fb]

keith has gucci reading glasses. keith sets plug trends lmao

[@westherm]

Nice Explorer Brady!

[@annikinstarkiller600]

Brady with the Rolex. Nice

[@litigioussociety4249]

We had a lunar eclipse around 2000 that was close to the horizon where I was living. When it turned red, it appeared much larger than even a standard, full moon near the horizon. Like an orange or red sun at sunset looking bigger, I assume red light either inflates the illusion or is actually causing some other affect.

[@arnelilleseter4755]

This is just a hypothesis on my part and should by no means be considered as fact. But maybe it appeared bigger because you were focusing your attention on it over a longer period.

[@CheshireTomcat68]

Father Ted, just saying. Moo!

[@Oltoir]

You can also view a fullmoon near the horizon through a loosely-closed fist and achieve the same effect !

[@oldcowbb]

perfect for moon festival

[@ByronLina]

Keith does have a very long tie, such that the "small" part is the same length as the "long" part. Unless that is an optical illusion.

[@danielingraham7880]

I can't recall in which video, but you have joked at Keith about Walter White previously.

[@flyingzeppo]

It bothered me that they walked away without closing the drawers of the card catalog.

[@blindleader42]

Two hours in, and Heisenberg hasn't really gone off in the comments, yet. Still hopeful.

[@russellmeyer]

In which Brady suggests mooning the moon.

[@georgesos]

I m going to try it tonight ,it's full moon .

[@InconsistentManner]

talk about using a coin... just use your thumb. the boon is always "approximately" the size of an average mans thumb.

[@Unknownety]

Still waiting for Keith's random pair of picks.

[@xamishia]

Fun!

[@DM-yj9qf]

is keith's correspondence, paper and electronic, being archived?

[@fasfan]

Since these videos are concerning the Royal Society.. Do they get to be archived IN the Royal Society?

[@MrImagin]

cool

[@corywarshaw4100]

One might even call you a lunatic!!!

[@guruone]

Did anyone notice the hole in Brady's pants?..... LOL..... Just me

[@balaam_7087]

First time watching one of your videos. Explain, please, as to why you need to wear white gloves to sift through the card catalog, but not to touch the hundred fifty year old handwritten letter??

[@q5123]

Obviously not Brady, but as far as I know, they don't need to wear the white gloves when browsing the catalogue, it's just kind of the tradition for the opening of the videos. They don't wear gloves when handling the paper because it's a lot easier to make mistakes when handling documents while gloved. Harder to be delicate with handling and more prone to tearing paper and the like. There's a previous video somewhere where they go over it but I can't recall which one exactly.

[@subjectline]

White gloves are dangerous to precious paper books and records. They're only worn if the ink might be poisonous, or there is a danger of poisonous mould. Clean, dry hands are recommended in the industry.

[@Jarooosa]

I think the real question is how can you have a tie that reaches the belt buckle with a 'tail' behind that is the same length? Extra long tie?

[@Goomersind]

My thoughts exactly 😄

[@advanceringnewholder]

Markiplier gonna haaatte this

[@pingnick]

🌕🤯

[@I_Echion]

😊

[@volodyadykun6490]

to Walter White. Less optimistic

[@davecorry7723]

Rolex Explorer ...

[@princeedmunddukeofedinburg]

I liked when you were chubbier, what's with the weight loss?

[@notaffiliatedwith7363]

You’re allowed to have preferences but phrasing it like that comes across like skinny shaming.

[@HermanVonPetri]

Have you considered that it's no concern of yours?

[@princeedmunddukeofedinburg]

@@HermanVonPetri Actually it is, we're all supporting here by watching the vids and so on..

[@princeedmunddukeofedinburg]

@@notaffiliatedwith7363 that was not my intention at all, I am just being curious that's how we learn, right?

[@CarrotConsumer]

Being a healthy weight seems like a self-evident reason.

[@itsdonaldo]

So if you moon the moon, it shrinks?? How did you discover that? haha 0:57