[EM] An interesting different method of combining results across a spectrum

[Paul Kislanko]

Mathematically, this is sort of an application of Borda. Which begs several
questions that should be obvious to list-readers.
 
This is from the Word-a-Day mailing list:
 
Apgar score (AP-gar skor) noun
 
   A method of assessing a newborn's health.
 
[After anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar (1909-1974) who devised it.]
 
This is a judging world and we get evaluated right from birth (Apgar score)
to death (how many people came to the funeral). In 1953, Dr. Virginia Apgar
devised a quick way to measure the health of a newborn child. She assigned
0, 1, or 2 points for each of the five criteria: heart rate, respiration,
muscle tone, skin color, and reflex response. The Apgar score is typically
calculated at one minute and five minutes after birth. Ten years after the
debut of the Apgar score, Dr. L. Joseph Butterfield introduced an acronym
as a mnemonic aid for the term: Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity,
Respiration. See more on Dr. Apgar at:  <http://apgar.net/virginia/>
http://apgar.net/virginia/
 
  "The baby, a 6-pound, 14-ounce boy, appeared so healthy that doctors who
   delivered him gave him an Apgar score of 9 on a scale of 1 to 10."
   Delthia Ricks; Congenital Malaria Case is First For NY; Newsday
   (New York); Apr 23, 2005.
 
This week's theme: eponyms. 
 
I found this interesting because of the timing. 
 
And, if the list finds Borda so terrible, why do we not complain about the
Doctors using it to vote for our child's health? 
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