Victor wrote:
> This talk of setting the seasons to align with mean temperatures
> recalls to mind something I've thought of before, particularly for
> Texas. Here in Texas, I think it would be possible to divide the
> seasons thus:
>
> Summer: hot, low standard deviation
> Winter: cold, low standard deviation
> Spring: period from winter changing to summer, high standard deviation
> Fall: period from summer changing to winter, high standard deviation
I reply:
Yes, I'd say that people perceive winter and summer as times when extreme conditions have settled in and aren't changing much, and that spring and fall are times of considerable ongoing change. That's what characterizes those seasons. In fact, I think that, more than anything else, that is the quantitative or objective definition of what we mean by Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn.
Though it hadn't occurred to me, it would be interesting to write such a mathematical definition of those seasons, and find which such form of the definition agrees with the widespread public perception about June and December.
Mike Ossipoff
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