Monday, February 02, 2009

Wouldn't you think the Washington Post would know infinitely better?

Especially the Science editor!

In an article about the Hubble Space Telescope, they write "but there are an almost infinite number of other possibilities." ("What Do You Want to See", 2009-02-02)

This is as bad as the advertiser who touts that a product has an endless number of uses.

Any scientist should know that you can never reach "almost infinity". Take any really, really large number, double it. You still are not close to infinity. Square it, you still are not close to infinity. Raise it to a power of itself. You still are not close to infinity.

Now bad or incorrect word usage, that is almost endless!