Jeff Liebermann wrote in
:

On Sat, 2 Jan 2010 02:51:37 -0000, wrote:

In fact, the origins of the standard gauge considerably predate the Roman
Empire, and may even predate the invention of the wheel. The width of
prehistoric vehicles was determined by number of interacting factors which
gave rise to a fairly standard vehicle width of a little under 2 metres
(6.6 ft) These factors have changed little over the millenia, and are still
reflected in today's motor vehicles."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_gauge

Yep. Put two people comfortably on a bench and measure the width of
the bench. That's the minimum cart width. They probably should have
changed over the millenia as we are becoming larger and more rotund.

I dunno about the "standard" gauge. There seems to be quite a few
not-so-standard gauges in use:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rail_gauges

Of course, the US standards were established in the time honored
traditional methods of politics, rhetoric, violence, and open warfa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Gauge_War


Best argument I ever saw for the popularisation of science understanding.
This is why I have trouble with Art, for example. Never mind if he's right or
wrong, all it takes to settle that is for enthusasts who already build
antennas to go a tad bit out of their way to see if any of his designs work
as advertised. The real problem is the scientified equivalent of purplpe
prose which obfuscates understanding as surely as an aggressive and
legalistic patent does. Einstein had no time for that kind of 'thinking', he
directly asserted several times that clarity and simplicity will get you
there better.

If the public had a better understanding of engineering and science, things
like Betamax, apparently better tech than VHS according to most who discuss
this issue, would have won, to the advantage of most people, not just the few
who forced the 'war'. Conflict is bad enough, but the one thing that can most
effectively redeem it is if it is won by whatever was most right, or useful,
or helpful. And if enough people grasp that well beforehand, the conflict
probably wouldn't happen so much.

Maybe I should shut up now, but this has got to be THE slowest day of the
year. And I include most of the last one in this assessment.