MASS ERROR

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

With reference to the story in Tuesday's CRIMSON about population and the mass of the earth, a little arithmetic checking seems in order. The mass of the earth is approximately 6x10²⁴ kilograms. Assuming that the average mass of a human being is 50 kilograms (110 lbs.), then 35 billion people would have a mass of 1.75x10¹² kilograms. This differs from the mass of the earth by a factor of 3x10¹².

I hope this error arose from a misquote, for it surely must be hoped that the scientists at the Harvard Center of Population Studies don't usually make mistakes on this order (3x10¹²) every day. Michael Whinihan '67