Re: [asa] Happy Birthday Charlie

A billion has been 1,000,000,000 as long as I remember. I don't know about
Oz-land , they might be behind the times:)
----- Original Message -----
From: <gmurphy10@neo.rr.com>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>; "Michael Roberts" <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 3:58 PM
Subject: Re: [asa] Happy Birthday Charlie

Near the end of your essay you said:

"In one sense I can see why some Christians are disturbed by Darwin or
evolution, but the whole picture of a five billion year old Earth which
first produced life four billion years ago and then ultimately all the
intricate variety of life we know today is breathtaking and should fill us
with awe and wonder – of the Creator."

OK if "billion" = 10^9 - i.e., a thousand million, which is the common
American meaning. But I thought the British usage was "billion" = 10^12 -
i.e., a million million. That's also the case in Australia, something I had
to bear in mind when I taught there 30+ years ago. Has this changed
recently? (French usage parallels American, while in Germany die Billion =
10^12 and die Milliarde = 10^9.)

Shalom,
George

---- Michael Roberts <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk> wrote:
> You have lost me. Am I short of a few neurons?
>
> Michael
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <gmurphy10@neo.rr.com>
> To: <asa@calvin.edu>; "Michael Roberts" <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk>
> Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 5:02 AM
> Subject: Re: [asa] Happy Birthday Charlie
>
>
> > Michael -
> >
> > Thanks for sharing this. But what's with the American use of "billion"
> > =
> > 10^9?
> >
> > Shalom,
> > George
> >
> >
> >
> > ---- Michael Roberts <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk> wrote:
> >> Michael Roberts, Charles Darwin: a Fulcrum Appreciation
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/page.cfm?ID=342
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
>

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Received on Tue Feb 17 09:57:02 2009