RE: Again this topic ??? Ci to Bq

["Weiner, Ruth" <rfweine@sandia.gov>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jean-Francois, Stephane [mailto:stephane_jeanfrancois@merck.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 1999 8:05 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Again this topic ??? Ci to Bq


>Are we still on conversion question or the never ending story of what is
heavier, 1 Kg or 2.204 Lbs ? Or what volume should we use, Liter, US Gallon,
UK Gallon etc. ?<

I am going to be as inoffensive as possible in this response.  I believe
some (including me) were a bit shocked at a request for software to make a
simple conversion like Ci to Bq.  It is not a reflection on the person or
persons who made the request so much as on the level of education that we
seem to accept as adequate for a professional (or even an amateur) in this
field.  I am not a heating engineer, but if I needed to convert from
calories to BTU (for example), I would either find a reference or work it
out from fundamental units myself.  I fault the teachers of the requesters
and the schools they attended for not insisting that learning how to make
such a conversion themselves or knowing where to look it up is what they
should do.  Incidentally, I do teach a pretty basic course in radioactive
waste management, and I require the students to make this particular
conversion and to work out for themselves, from balancing units, the
conversion from curies to grams for several radionuclides.

So I think it's not the question itself, or that it was asked, that is
disturbing, but what is implied in a request for software.

Clearly only my own opinion.

Ruth F. Weiner, Ph. D.
Sandia National Laboratories 
MS 0718, POB 5800
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0718
505-844-4791; fax 505-844-0244
rfweine@sandia.gov


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