Letters

Dear Editor: In the CSIT Newsletter of November, 1974, you quote "Lifestyle Index" to the effect that: "It takes one acre of strip-mined coal to burn six 100-watt bulbs continuously for one year." When one of my colleagues pointed this out to me, I was a bit surprised. However, one gets used to surprising numbers — such as the number of cows that could be laid end to end on the major power transmission lines in the United States. Nonetheless, I thought the statistic worth checking. And to my surprise "Lifestyle Index" is correct. It does take one acre of coal to run six 100-watt bulbs for one year — if the coal seam is one hundredth (0.01) of an inch thick.