Why is the third hand on the (analog) watch called the second hand?

In response to last week’s question, “Why is the third hand on the (analog) watch called the second hand?”, my birthday bud Jon noted, “Being fastest, it could be considered the first hand, not the third. Which still leaves your question unanswered, but I will leave that to others.” My sailing friend Kurt agreed, “Seems to me it should be the first hand as it is moving the fastest. It is 60 times faster than the minute hand.”

My college roomie John countered, “it makes sense that the third hand be the second hand since we tell time in the order of hours, minutes and seconds. I guess I have nothing more to offer having already taken a few seconds on your time.”

My writing and sailing friend Rich recalled, “My Dad always called it "the proof that Timex takes a licking and keeps on ticking hand."

My friend Royce challenged, “because it's a race for time and the other guy came in second.”

My sailing friend Vaughn explained, “Its information may be considered third but it is not the third hand; it is the first hand. If you look at an analog watch’s hands you will see that the bottom or third hand is the hour hand; the minute hand in the middle. You just have to change your perspective. More importantly, seconds are often not considered but should be. Consider at 84 degrees zero minutes west longitude and Latitude 34 degrees 10 minutes, north the difference between 11 seconds and 10 seconds is the difference between a good or bad day. (http://lanier.sam.usace.army.mil/navigation/Grid_08.pdf)

And my video game designing friend Dov challenged, “why is the big hand called the 'minute' (pronounced my-noot) hand?”

My cycling friend Ted then provided a practical solution, “It's now completely irrelevant. This is 2011, we've been digital for 25 years. Quit living in the past!!

Please share your thoughts about "things that make you go 'Hmmm' ”:

      After the roads are cleared of snow, where does the salt and sand go? (Inquiring minds in ATL want to know because we don’t use salt or sand when it snows; we wait for the sunshine to clear the roads.)

Live well...laugh often and heartily…. have a good week and never regret anything that made you smile!

Hal

Some of the many wonderful and insightful thoughts shared by Martin Luther King, Jr, whose memory we honor today.

• Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.

• We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

• Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

• In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

• Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

• The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Info about A Day of Service, visit http://mlkday.gov/