Those who confuse Kant and Jesus are probably going to Hegel.
Possibly relevant anecdote: My nephew was home-schooled until high-school. He’s always been interested in physics and astronomy (he is now close to his PhD in astrophysics). One of his distinct impressions when he entered high school was an apalling level of ignorance among his classmates of basic astronomy and physics.
The reason for this was perhaps not far to seek: He showed me his physics textbook which included a picture of a Shuttle astronaut doing a spacewalk. The caption: “As you get further from the center of the earth, the earth’s gravity decreases until, in outer space, you’re weightless!”
bangs head against desk
Do astronomers even take a look at these textbooks? This is really increasing my determination to write decent, informative astronomy books for kids.
I’m disagreeing with Cecil. I see his point that there are no “official” definitions of the seasons, but there are commonly accepted ones.
No, my pot plants do. 
Nevertheless, society is bubbling along nicely despite them. Fortunately, we live in the era of the technological welfare state where citizens can benefit from the advances of others even if they don’t have a clue how these advances came about.
What if they don’t wanna blush with shame? What then? What if your moral outrage generates a big fat yawn in response? Chill out.
Ah OK. Fair enough. I was getting confused for a moment there.
It’s the Pit. If I chilled out I’d get a Warning. And rightly so.
Well, the first president was John Hanson, so I am safe there.
On the other hand, how do we address the issue of a person who confuses revolve and rotate during a condemnation of astronomical ignorance?
Is a failure of vocabulary a lesser or greater failing than being unaware of the specific motion of a body one may only rarely see in today’s urban environment?
Sorry for the confusion.
But I strongly object to the notion that seasons should start 1.5 months before the commonly accepted dates. When I’m getting frostbite in the middle of May, no fucking way I’m calling that Summer. When I’m melting in the sweltering heat of mid-August, no fucking way I’m calling that Autumn.
Nope. Beach weather is Summer. Falling leaves weather is Autumn. Winter coat weather is Winter. And I Have No Fucking Clue weather is Swinter.
There is a thread about their exercises here.
But the Moon does rotate around the Earth. Once per revolution. Yeah, that works.
Hey look over there!
runs away
Well, technically the first part is true, since by removing yourself from the earth will cause it to have less mass 
As for the second part, do Lagrange points count?
Don’t get me started on people who don’t know what Lagrange Points are! Stoning is too good for them. :mad:
OK, I’ve caught up with the thread so far. My co-worker is a perfectly nice 40ish woman who I like very much and who is no dummy as far as our work goes. I had no intention of denigrating her; in large part it was because she seems so competent that I was astonished at her question. I won’t relate some of the other things we’ve discussed like Evolution, but it does seem as if her grasp of science is shaky in many respects. In fact, “her grasp” seems to be the issue. She was taught all this in school, but apparently school consisted of a regurgitation of facts which she didn’t get the framework to properly assimilate. I think this reflects worse on how science is taught in school then on my co-worker.
Which is precisely why there are no “official dates” for the starts of the seasons: because it varies depending on where you are (latitude, etc.). To expect summer to start at the same time in Alaska as in Texas (not even to mention the Southern Hemisphere) is silly.
I know how you feel. Everyone should be aware that there are points in Illinois, Georgia, and Texas known as LaGrange.
Obviously the seasons shouldn’t start six weeks earlier, unless you’re making a fetish out of daylight. Longest day doesn’t correlate with maximum warmth, after all. Hello? This is basic meteorology here! :smack:
Ooo! The meteorologists and climatologists against the astronomers! Geek fight!
They got some nice girls there. Have mercy!