lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.) (11/14/83)
I concluded my critique of Setterfield's speed of light function with the comment that the simplest function which gave the same fit was: C(t) = C0 * exp( (t/2737.71)^2 ) ... but the time constant is too small by a factor of sqrt(2). I thought I had checked it, and indeed I had, but with the corrected factor! Naturally, I went ahead and reported the erroneous one. So the correct formula is: C(t) = C0 * exp( (t/3871.7)^2 ) The value I gave for C(6000), namely 3.3e6, was correct. As long as I'm on the air again, I'll note that this function gives a value of C great enough to cross the visible universe in a short time within a few tens of thousands of years. It reaches Setterfield's "cutoff value" of 5e11 * C0, which he assumed constant during "Creation Week", at about t = 20000. I imagine, however, that a creationist would as soon concede 4 billion years as 20 thousand, since either would entail abandoning their scriptural chronology. And furthermore, since log(1+x) ~= x (I already used this once,) the REALLY simplest function is simply: C(t) = C0 * (1 + (t/3871.7)^2) This still gives better agreement with Setterfield's "exact" function than does his approximation, which he declares completely equivalent. Note the following values for t= 285 ( 1675 AD): C(t) C(285) C0*sec(pi*t/12000)^1.9466 301423 /* exact */ C0*sec(pi*t/12000)^2 301468 /* approximate */ C0*exp( (t/3871.7)^2 ) 301421 C0*(1 + (t/3871.7)^2 ) 301417 The last formula reaches 5e11 * C0 at about 3 billion years ago! Striking confirmation of the evolutionary time scale :-) Lew Mammel, Jr. ihuxr!lew