Monday 30 June 2008

It's not 9 by 5!

It's nothing of Earth shattering importance I know, but... I read something the other day about an art exhibition called nine by five and how this seemed relevant to Jersey... and a Google search has revealed an awful lot of webpages where the island is described as 9 x 5 miles in size.... and it's starting to irritate me now....


Perhaps people are confusing the land area generally reported as about 45 square miles with the 9 and the 5 that so happily multiply together to that number? Obviously the irregular shape doesn't lend itself well to measurements like these, but I really think that at least 10 x 6 would be a bit more realistic.

I hereby claim the Nerd of the Week award! (I'll just hang on to it from last week)

2 comments:

A Holiday In The Sun said...

Hmmmm....I wonder what the measurement is diagonally from the North Western point to the South Eastern point, as that would appear to cover the widest distance?

Anyway, with rising sea levels, 9 by 5 will be completely accurate at some relatively close future date!

crapaudmatic said...

So you're saying we should measure diagonally like a TV screen? hehe
- I can't think of any good humourous comparison between Jersey and a TV at the moment.. or is there room for a cheap political jibe about most TV shows being directed better....?

Rough calculations from pixel measurements on my pic (cracking out the old Pythagoras!) : from La Rocque to the Pinnacle at Les Landes is about 11.7 miles and from Corbiere to La Coupe looks to be about 10.4

I'm not sure what to make of all the global warming stuff and rising sea levels, but it would certainly put me off buying a propery down in the marshes :o)

ta