Blame it on the cold

Fellow NASW science writer Laura Lee has written a fascinating book that charts how the course of history may have been altered by the weather and climatic conditions. For instance, had Napolean marched in summer, his reception in Moscow may have been entirely different. As it was winter Moscow and Napolean’s army froze in temperatures of -40 oC which is according to Lee’s book “Blame it on the Rain” is -40 oF, and she’s right. -40 Celsius is -40 Fahrenheit. No crass excess of sig figs here, just the simplest of temperature scale coincidences.

You can use an online converter, or check your analog thermometer to see that this is so, lookup tables in the back of your diary will also reveal that -40C is -40F.

If you go back to the old school conversion method, multiply the Celsius value by 9/5 then add 32 you’ll see…

So, for once a publication that gets its conversions right. Nice on Laura.