Using Ratios
 

Setting the Stage

In the Jonathan Swift classic Gulliver's Travels, Lemuel Gulliver is shipwrecked and swims to the island of Lilluput, where the people have an average height of slightly less than six inches. Since Gulliver's only clothes were those he was wearing, the Lilliputians had to make new clothing for him.

Think About It
 
1
The height of a Lilliputian is about what fraction of your height
Answers will vary.
2
What two measurements did the Lilliputians take in order to make a shirt for Gulliver
The length from neck to mid-leg and the distance around his thumb.
3
a. What do you think Gulliver meant by "twice round the thumb is once round the wrist"
The distance around the wrist is twice the distance around the thumb.
b. What do you think he meant by "and so on to the neck and the waist"
The distance around the neck is twice the distance around the wrist, and the distance around the waist is twice the distance around the neck.
Section 3   Using Ratios   397
MATHTHEMATICS - Body Ratios - SECTION 3
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