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George Huxtable wrote [in msg 5399]:

>it seems madness to measure hour-angles as positive Westwards, and
>longitudes as positive Eastwards. Can anyone really justify it?
>
>
The fact that now we all measure longitudes the same way is probably the
best possible justification. Speculating about the philosophical reason
is likely to be counter productive: It may weaken the consensus. Someone
might come up with the really bad idea to change the convention again in
the interest of "better science".

The choice of sign is not the only problem connected with longitude. The
abbreviations for the cardinal points pose a similar one. East and west
are 'est' and 'ouest' in French, 'Osten' and 'Westen' in German. An 'O'
would signify west in French and east in German. To avoid potential
confusion, the communities of navigators of both tongues have since long
switched to exclusive use of 'E' for east and 'W' for west even when
writing in their own native language.

George, could you accept the sign convention in the same pragmatical spirit?

Herbert Prinz

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