3b27b1c2   
   XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: odysseus1479-at@yahoo-dot.ca   
      
   In article ,   
    Michael Cole  wrote:   
      
   > sean_q formulated the question :   
   > > On 1/4/2012 1:01 AM, In article "Re: _The Hobbit_ - first glimpse"   
   > > Troels Forchhammer enscribed in Moon-runes:   
   > >   
   > >  > I do think it's fairly clear that the earth is round ;)   
   > >   
   > > *Approximately* spherical, except that the sun and moon cause tides   
   > > not only with the oceans but with the stuff of the Earth itself --   
   > > apparently even the solid rock of the crust expands and compresses   
   > > with the standing planetary tidal waves, while the molten core   
   > > sloshes around under high pressure doing its best to escape   
   > > through volcanoes such as Mt. Doom. So the Earth is actually   
   > > [I dunno the scientific word for it -- a "3 dimensional oval"]   
   >   
   > An oblate spheroid.   
      
   To a first approximation, anyway, or (perhaps a little more precise) an   
   "oblate ellipsoid". Most of the departure from sphericity is due to the   
   planet's rotation; the effects of tides, mascons, &c. are several orders   
   of magnitude smaller.   
      
   Regardless, I would call any smooth, convex figure "round", whether   
   spherical or ovoid, regular or somewhat amorphous, as long as no   
   diameter is much larger or smaller than any other -- so I don't really   
   see how any of the above bears on Troels's remark.   
      
   To put it another way, if objects must be perfectly spherical to be   
   called "round", there are far fewer that deserve this designation than   
   the word's frequency of use would suggest.   
      
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   Odysseus   
      
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