h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry ID: A3327103 (Edited)

ultraviolet

spacesuits

apparatus.)

Entry

700 BC

was alloyed

Entry

pounds

The price today is approx US$1,350 per troy ounce. You might want to include (somewhere) the 'fact' that the total value of all the gold in the world is approx US$5 trillion, at today's price (which suggests that there are some 3,703,703,703.7037 troy ounces of gold in the world - a figure bound to be appreciated by our Julzes.

< earth > Earth

Might be clearer with a footnote (there are no footnotes at all) from the word sea?

chemicals and can

at a time

<'Golden Fleece.'> 'Golden Fleece'.

named him

I think it is normal practice to put the closing bracket before the full stop. Not sure, though.

OK, I've changed my mind. When the whole sentence is in brackets, the closing bracket is after the full stop.

I've done all those, with the following exceptions and caveats:



I've added the current price.
I haven't added the total value of all the gold in the world. Can you suggest a suitable point?

I'm not going to include the figure 3,703,703,703.7037 because that is a mathematical error. You can't derive a figure with more than one significant digit from a figure with only one significant digit.



This is an important point, so I'm not footnoting it, but I've rephrased it slightly.

--> chemicals and can

You misunderstood the original sentence, which means it was unclear and ambiguous, so I've reworded it.

--> at a time

"At a time" suggests the time was a moment in time, "in a time" suggests a more extended period, which was the case here.

Brilliant work. Thanks both.

I really shouldn't do this while making chicken soup.

"I'm not going to include the figure 3,703,703,703.7037 because that is a mathematical error. You can't derive a figure with more than one significant digit from a figure with only one significant digit."

I'm no mathematician and so I don't understand the significance of 'a significant digit'. I simply divided the total value given for the amount of gold in the world by the current price, as a rough guide. I have no idea if the figure is accurate, and only mentioned it for amusement's sake - forgetting to close the brackets after 'Julzes'.

"I haven't added the total value of all the gold in the world. Can you suggest a suitable point?"

I wouldn't want to interfere with one of your Entries, Gnomon. I found the figure here http://tinyurl.com/2bdqoyd and can't be certain of its accuracy.

<(see Electrum later in this entry).> Entry

I'd be suspicious of that article, because it states "one has to question whether it is realistic to think of it [gold] as having a serious role as money in the future".

As far as I can tell, gold does not have any role as money.

To be fair to the article, it doesn't say that gold has a serious role as money now.

Have you had a look at this site? http://www.gold.org/government_affairs/gold_as_a_monetary_asset/

I'm not researching gold at the moment. Unless there is anything wrong with the Entry, I'm not actively trying to change it.

This is one of my most-linked-to entries, thanks for writing it Gnomon