Great Tree, Great Axe - xkcd what if

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EdmontonAxe

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Oct 21, 2013
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One of my favorite corners of the internet is the webcomic xkcd. The humor doesn't work for everyone, but it very much does for me. This is in part due to the author, Randall Munroe, having an analytical and mathematical mind. "xkcd - What If" is a series that awnsers bizarre hypothetical questions the most 'realistic' way possible.

Today's takes a look at a nursery rhyme and is called "Great Tree, Great Axe"

http://what-if.xkcd.com/90/

I recommend you go read it, if for no other reason than one illustration that depicts the axe ownership of many of us here. It also involves a 3km tall guy chopping down a 75km tall tree with a .5km axe.
 
My favorite to date is still the "Click and Drag" one. (If anyone follows that link to the comic use your mouse to click and drag on the last panel.)

His Fermi estimation of Axe to Human ratio obviously didn't account for the folks who haunt these boards.

edit: Also I think his estimate for axes is a bit low as an axe is rarely destroyed. There are still axes that still exist from the bronze age which certainly can't be said for humans. I think a better estimation would be to consider all the axes ever made and estimate the percentage of that number that were lost by rusting away to nothing, being melted down etc. I think the Great Axe would end up being proportionally larger than the Great Man.
 
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