Why do Clocks run clockwise?

by David Feldman

  Samples of Ivory Soap were sent to the same chemist for analysis.

  Much to the manufacturer’s surprise, Ivory, by the consultant’s definition, was “purer” than the competing castile soaps—containing only 0.56 percent “impurities.” The impurities, then and now, were rather innocent:

  Uncombined alkali 0.11 percent

  Carbonates 0.28 percent

  Mineral matter 0.17 percent

  The first Ivory advertisement was placed in a religious weekly, The Independent, on December 21, 1881. Procter & Gamble decided to emphasize the positive, and right away hammered at their product’s advantages. Ivory Soap was trumpeted as “99 and 44/100

  percent pure,” a rare advertising slogan in that it has lasted longer than a century.

  Submitted by Linda A. Wheeler, of Burlington, Vermont.

  Why Do We Grow Lawns Around Our Houses?

  At first blush, this Imponderable seems easily solved. Lawns are omnipresent in residential neighborhoods and even around multiunit dwellings in all but the most crowded urban areas. Lawns are pretty.

  Enough said.

  But think about it again. One could look at lawns as a monumental waste of ecological resources. Today, there are approximately 55

  million home lawns in the United States, covering 25 to 30 million acres. In New Jersey, the most densely populated state, nearly one-fifth of the entire land area is covered with turfgrass, twice as much land as is used for crop production. Although turfgrass is also used for golf courses and public parks, most is planted for lawns. The average home lawn, if used for growing fruits and vegetables, would yield two thousand dollars worth of crops. But instead of this land becoming a revenue

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  generator, it is a “drainer”: Americans spend an average of several hundred dollars a year to keep their lawns short and healthy.

  If the purpose of lawns is solely ornamental, why has the tradition persisted for eons, when most conceptions of beauty change as often as the hem length of women’s dresses? The Chinese grew lawns five thousand years ago, and circumstantial evidence indicates that the Mayans and Aztecs were lawn fanciers as well. In the Middle Ages, monarchs let their cattle run loose around their castles, not only to feed the animals, but to cut the grass so that advancing enemy forces could be spotted at a distance. Soon, aristocrats throughout Europe adopted the lawn as a symbol of prestige (“if it’s good enough for the king, it’s good enough for me!”). The games associated with lawns—bowls, croquet, tennis—all started as upper-class diversions.

  The lawn quickly became a status symbol in colonial America, just as it was in Europe. Some homeowners used scythes to tend their lawns, but most let animals, particularly sheep, cows, and horses, do the work. In 1841, the lawn mower was introduced, much to the delight of homeowners, and much to the dismay of grazing animals and teenagers everywhere.

  Dr. John Falk, who is associated with the educational research division of the Smithsonian Institution, has spent more time ponder-ing this Imponderable than any person alive, and his speculations are provocative and convincing. Falk believes that our desire for a savannalike terrain, rather than being an aesthetic predilection, is actually a genetically encoded preference. Anthropologists agree that humankind has spent most of its history roaming the grasslands of East Africa. In order to survive against predators, humans needed trees for protection and water for drinking, but also grassland for foraging. If primitive man wandered away into rain forests, for example, he must have longed to return to the safety of his savanna home. As Falk commented in an interview in Omni magazine: “For more than ninety percent of human history the savanna was home.

  Home equals safety, and that information has to be fairly hard-wired if the animal is going to respond to danger instantaneously.”

  48 / DAVID FELDMAN

  When we talked to Dr. Falk, he added more ammunition to support his theories. He has conducted a number of cross-cultural studies to ascertain the terrain preferences of people all over the world. He and psychologist John Balling showed subjects photographs of five different terrains—deciduous forest, coniferous forest, tropical rain forest, desert, and savanna—and asked them where they would prefer to live. The savanna terrain was chosen overwhelm-ingly. Falk’s most recent studies were conducted in India and Nigeria, in areas where most subjects had never even seen a savanna. Yet they consistently picked the savanna as their first choice, with their native terrain usually the second preference.

  Falk and Balling also found that children under twelve were even more emphatic in their selection of savannas, another strong, if in-conclusive, indication that preference for savanna terrain is genetic.

  In the Omni article, Falk also suggested that even the way we ornament our lawns mimics our East African roots. The ponds and fountains that decorate our grasses replicate the natural water formations of our homeland, and the popularity of umbrella-shaped shade trees might represent an attempt to recreate the acacia trees found in the African savanna.

  Of course, psychologists have speculated about other reasons why we “need” lawns. The most common theory is that lawns and gardens are a way of taming and domesticating nature in an era in which affluent Westerners are virtually divorced from it. Another explanation is that lawns are a way of mapping territory, just as every other animal marks territory to let others know what property it is ready to defend. This helps explain why so many homeowners are touchy about the neighborhood kid barely scraping their lawn while trying to catch a football. As Dr. Falk told Imponderables, “People create extensions of themselves. When people create a lawn as an extension of themselves, they see a violation of their lawn as a violation of their space.”

  Lawns are also a status symbol, for they are a form of prop WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 49

  erty that has a purely aesthetic rather than economic purpose. Historically, only the affluent have been able to maintain lawns—the poor simply didn’t have the land to spare. Fads and fashions in lawns change, but there are usually ways for the rich to differentiate their lawns from the hoi polloi’s. Highly manicured lawns have usually been the preference of the rich, but not always. In the Middle Ages, weeds were considered beautiful. In many parts of the world, mixed breeds of turf are preferred.

  American taste has become increasingly conservative. Ever since World War II, the “ideal” American lawn has been a short, mono-culture, weed-free lawn, preferably of Kentucky bluegrass. Falk sees these preferences as carry-overs from the technology used by American agronomists to develop grass for golf courses. Americans always want to build a better mousetrap; our “ideal lawn” has become just about the only type.

  Americans have largely resisted the inroads of artificial grass. Although many team owners endorse it, sports fans by and large recoil at artificial turf in sports stadiums—perhaps another genetically determined predisposition.

  Submitted by Rick Barber, of Denver, Colorado.

  50 / DAVID FELDMAN

  Why Do Many Exterminators Wear Hard Hats?

  Our correspondent wondered why one of the largest exterminator companies, in its television commercials, dresses its exterminators with nice pants, a dressy shirt, and a hard hat. Is there any practical reason for the hard hat in real life? Is there a marketing reason?

  The practical reason: pest-control operators often have to inspect crawl spaces, basements, and cellars full of obstacles—nails, heat ducts, spider webs, and other protruding objects from above. The hard hat helps reduce accidents.

  The marketing reason: the hard hat conveys a professional image.

  Subliminally, the hard hat is supposed to make the customer think:

  “If the exterminator has to wear a hard hat, this work must be too dangerous for a civilian like me! Better leave it to the experts.”

  Submitted by Phil Feldman, of Los Angeles, California.

  WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 51

  Who Was the Emmy That the Emmy Award Is Named A
fter?

  Not who, but what? Unlike the premier theater (Tony) and movie (Oscar) awards, the Emmy isn’t named after a person.

  In 1948, the president of the budding National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Charles Brown, formed a committee to select the outstanding achievements in television that year. He also asked for suggestions for a name and symbol for the award.

  From the start, technological terms were the top contenders.

  “Iconoscope” (a large orthicon tube) was an early favorite, but the committee was afraid the name would be shortened to “Ike.” “Tilly”

  (for television) was suggested, but cooler heads prevailed. Harry Lubcke, a pioneer television engineer and future president of the academy (1949-1950) offered “Emmy,” a nickname for the image orthicon tube (state-of-the-art circuitry at that time), and it prevailed.

  The statue itself was designed by Louis McManus, who received a gold lifetime membership in the academy and one of the six statuettes presented at the first Emmy Awards banquet on January 25, 1949. As McManus went up to receive his award, he is reputed to have been told, “Louis, here she is…our baby. She’ll be here long after we’re gone.” Indeed, long after the image orthicon tube was gone.

  52 / DAVID FELDMAN

  Why Don’t Dogs Develop Laryngitis, Sore Throats, Voice Changes, or Great Discomfort After Barking Continuously?

  A caller on a talk show hit us with this Imponderable. The dog next door, left alone by his master, had been barking, continuously, for hours. Why didn’t it hurt the dog’s throat at least as much as the caller’s ears?

  We approached several vets and stumped some, but the consensus answer was best expressed by William E. Monroe, D.V.M., Diplo-mate, of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine: Dogs do occasionally get laryngitis and voice changes from excessive barking. It is not as common in dogs as in people because the motor control of the canine larynx (voice box) is not as refined as

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  that of humans for sound production. Therefore, the voice range is narrower and subsequent stress from phonation is probably not as severe. Since barking is not much a part of daily living for most pet dogs as speaking is for people, laryngitis manifested as a voice change is also not as frequently observed in dogs, even though it may be present.

  Why Are There Eighteen Holes on a Golf Course?

  In Scotland, the home of golf, courses were originally designed with varying numbers of holes, depending on the parcel of land available.

  Some golf courses, according to U.S. Golf Association Librarian Janet Seagle, had as few as five holes.

  The most prestigious golf club, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, originally had twenty-two holes. On October 4, 1764, its original course, which had contained eleven holes out and eleven holes in, was reduced to eighteen holes total in order to lengthen them and make it more challenging. As a desire to codify the game grew, eighteen holes was adopted as the standard after the St. Andrews model.

  54 / DAVID FELDMAN

  What Does 0° in the Fahrenheit Scale Signify?

  During our school days, we were forced to memorize various points in the Fahrenheit scale. We all know that the freezing point is 32°

  and that the boiling point is 212°. The normal human body temperature is the inelegantly unround number of 98.6°.

  Countries that have adopted the metric system have invariably chosen the Celsius system to measure heat. In the Celsius scale, 0°

  equals the freezing point.

  The Fahrenheit temperature scale was created by a German physicist named Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, who invented both the alcohol thermometer and the mercury thermometer. The divisions of his scale aren’t quite as arbitrary as they might seem. Zero degrees was chosen to represent the temperature of an equal ice-salt mixture, and 100° was originally supposed to signify the normal body temperature. But Fahrenheit screwed up. Eventually, scientists found that the scale didn’t quite work, and the normal body temperature was “down-scaled” to 98.6°.

  Submitted by James S. Boczarski, of Amherst, New York.

  What Does Each One-Degree Increment in the Fahrenheit Scale Signify?

  Although his scale was not based on the freezing and boiling points, Fahrenheit recognized their significance. The interval between the boiling point (212°) and freezing point (32°) numbers exactly 180

  degrees on the Fahrenheit scale, a figure with which scientists and mathematicians were used to working.

  The increments in a temperature scale have no cosmic sig WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 55

  nificance in themselves. The Celsius system, for example, is less precise than the Fahrenheit in distinguishing slight variations in moderate temperatures. Thus while 180 increments on the Fahrenheit scale are necessary to get from the freezing to the boiling point, the freezing point (0°) on the Celsius scale and the boiling point (100°

  C) are closer, only 100 increments apart.

  In most cases, the meaning of the one-degree increments in temperature scales has more to do with what is intended to be measured by the scale than with any particular mathematical requirements.

  The Fahrenheit scale, intended for use in human thermometers, was designed originally to have 100°F represent the normal body temperature. Temperature scales now used by scientists, such as the Kelvin and Rankine scales, use absolute zero (the equivalent of -

  273.15° C or -459.67° F) as the base point. Rankine uses the same degree increments as Fahrenheit; Kelvin uses the Celsius degree.

  Submitted by James L. Foley, of Calabasas, California.

  56 / DAVID FELDMAN

  Why Doesn’t Rain Come Down the Chimney into the Fireplace When Smoke Can Get out of the Chimney?

  Some residential buildings contain chimney caps, sloping structures that stand atop the chimney, as pictured below: WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE? / 57

  While the rain slides down the slopes, the smoke can easily escape under the cap.

  But most buildings don’t contain chimney caps and don’t need them, for even large amounts of water can be absorbed by the bricks and masonry in a chimney. Indeed, the high absorbency of bricks is one of the reasons they are used in chimneys. In buildings of four or more stories, almost any quantity of water will be absorbed without the need of a chimney cap.

  Submitted by Michael Jeffreys and Krissie Kraft, of Marina del Rey, California. Thanks also to: Leonard Scarpace, of Newhall, California.

  Why Do Curad Bandage Wrappers Sparkle in the Dark When You Open Them?

  Whenever we did promotion for the first volume of Imponderables and talked about why wintergreen Life Savers glow in the dark when you bite into them, we invariably received a phone call from someone asking why opening Curad wrappers caused the same phenomenon.

  So we wrote to Colgate-Palmolive to unravel this mystery. The adhesive used to seal Curad bandage wrappers contains an ultraviolet dye. Most likely, the excitation and friction caused in the act of opening the wrapper causes the glow, which is visible only in the dark.

  The research-and-development department of Colgate-Palmolive adds that static electricity might add to the sparkling effect. The sparkling is perfectly harmless and, if you are cut, a nice diversion from your pain.

  58 / DAVID FELDMAN

  Why Do Garment Labels Often Say “Professionally

  Dry-Clean Only”?

  When was the last time you were propositioned by an amateur dry cleaner? Most folks don’t take up dry-cleaning as an avocation, so when we were posed this Imponderable by a caller on the Owen Spann Show, we resolved to ferret out exactly who these dangerous amateur dry cleaners were.

  It turns out that the veiled reference in “Professionally Dry-Clean Only” labels is not to incompetent practitioners, but to incompetent machines. What these labels are actually warning you against is cleaning the garments in the coin-op bulk dry-cleaning machines that used to be found frequently in laundromats. As much as anything, the labe
ls are a convenient way for clothing manufacturers to avoid liability for the havoc the machines have wreaked. Molly Chillinsky, of the Coin Laundry Association, says that these bulk dry-cleaning devices are almost extinct; in time, the labels might become so as well.

  Karen Graber, communications director of the International Fab-ricare Institute, the Association of [ahem] Professional Dry Cleaners and Launderers, adds that the Federal Trade Commission stipulates that along with the “Professionally Dry-Clean Only” warning, garment manufacturers should inform the consumer of any necessary modification in the basic dry-cleaning process. “Even the most professional dry cleaner might not know without being told that something should be dried at a low temperature, for example, or should not be pressed with steam.” The clothing industry, unfortunately, often forgets to add these warnings.

  Overcome by the spirit of Imponderables, Karen Graber added one of her own. Another clothing label warning that is sprouting up is the incantation: “Dry-clean only. Do not use petroleum or synthetic solvent.” As there are only two kinds of solvent (you guessed it—petroleum and synthetic), her Imponderable is: what do you do with such a garment?

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  Graber’s answer: “Leave it in the store, along with anything else you know from the label is bound to cause you and your dry cleaner some sleepless nights.”

  What Is the Difference Between “Flotsam” and

  “Jetsam”?

  Although they sound suspiciously like two of Santa’s missing reindeer, flotsam and jetsam are actually two different types of debris associated with ships. We rarely hear either term mentioned without the other close behind (and saying “jetsam” before “flotsam” is like saying “Cher” before “Sonny”). When we talk about “flotsam and jetsam” today, we are usually referring metaphorically to the unfortunate (for example, “While visiting the homeless shelter, the governor glimpsed what it is like to be the flotsam and jetsam of our society”).