Wirt Atmar wrote:
>
> Nick points out that north and east are relative measures:
>
> > What?  These are directions, not places.
>
> That's obviously true in a relative sense, but it's also true that 39 23' 33"
> N 113 34' 52" W is a place in an absolute sense. It may not have an English
> name, but it's a place nonetheless, and it can reliably located.
>
Well, OK, but that is relative, also.  The relatives are accepted so
maybe you
can call them absolutes, but the location you gave is relative to the
equator
and Greenwich meridian.  The equator is obvious because of the spin of
the earth.
The other is arbitrary because at the time those making the maps chose
Greenwich for no particular geological reason.

So if we define east from greenwich then Alaska has the furthest east
location.  If we define it from someplace in the mainland USA then Maine
has the most eastern location.

If you define East as a location, then America then you call it. To me
Asia is the Orient (the East).  Where does this leave ATTU?  In the cold
I am sure.

Nick D.