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Lady tasting tea

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Re: Lady tasting tea

#81

Post by 0cf8612b2e1e »

analog31 wrote: post #63
0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was that a genuine concern? Boiling water has a fixed maximum temperature. Not sure that room temp->90C is all that different from room temp to 100C for ceramic.

Cracking teacups was a concern. I visited a fascinating museum with a ceramics collection, and it included an exhibit with a history of ceramics. Earlier ceramics had this problem. Apparently, bone china -- with some bone mixed in -- created a tougher material that was less prone to cracking under the rapid temperature shock. As ceramics improved over the decades, it became a non-issue. I suspect that letting the hea…

Granted, I have only ever had access to modern materials, but that feels like a basic a QC check during manufacturing. Pour boiling water straight into the cup. Designs that fail need to be reworked to be thinner/thicker/baked differently.

Re: Lady tasting tea

#82

Post by analog31 »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #81
analog31 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cracking teacups was a concern. I visited a fascinating museum with a ceramics collection, and it included an exhibit with a history of ceramics. Earlier ceramics had this problem. Apparently, bone china -- with some bone mixed in -- created a tougher material that was less prone to cracking under the rapid temperature shock. As ceramics improved over the decades, it became a non-issue. I suspect that letting the hea…

Granted, I have only ever had access to modern materials, but that feels like a basic a QC check during manufacturing. Pour boiling water straight into the cup. Designs that fail need to be reworked to be thinner/thicker/baked differently.

Essentially, the materials hadn't been invented, or were not widely known. The people who were manufacturing hard china kept their recipes a secret. Adding bone dust to the ceramic made it tough enough to withstand the temperature swing.

Also, mass manufacturing was in its infancy.

Re: Lady tasting tea

#83

Post by [deleted] »

seoulmetro wrote: post #65
markdown wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it's not. Read again > measure a specific amount of milk in isolation than to eyeball how much of it you've just added to something else

Yes, it is. They are measuring the milk in isolation, which in this instance means to pour (and measure with your eyes) as it fills the empty container before the tea. Whereas you can't really measure how much the volume is changing (eyeballing) in isolation. Think of it as the difference between measuring a liquid in a container and eyeballing a liquid in another liquid.

[deleted]

Re: Lady tasting tea

#84

Post by stavros »

westcort wrote: post #80

Not mentioned here is the lady’s name, Muriel Bristol. I have also heard that this is a different way with 6 cups. This matters because 6C3 = 6! / (3!(6-3)!) = 20. That 1/20 chance of getting all 3 cups right is said to be the basis for the 5% significance cutoff for p values. Another basis for the 5% cutoff is the (even earlier) Poisson distribution, with zero expected events, 3 observed. In this case, the probabili…

> The woman in question, phycologist Muriel Bristol, claimed to be able to tell whether the tea or the milk was added first to a cup.

Re: Lady tasting tea

#85

Post by westcort »

stavros wrote: post #84
westcort wrote: post #80

Not mentioned here is the lady’s name, Muriel Bristol. I have also heard that this is a different way with 6 cups. This matters because 6C3 = 6! / (3!(6-3)!) = 20. That 1/20 chance of getting all 3 cups right is said to be the basis for the 5% significance cutoff for p values. Another basis for the 5% cutoff is the (even earlier) Poisson distribution, with zero expected events, 3 observed. In this case, the probabili…

> The woman in question, phycologist Muriel Bristol, claimed to be able to tell whether the tea or the milk was added first to a cup.

Missed that, but still think commentary on the origin of the 5% rule for p values is of interest.
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