I get massively confused when it comes to tripod heads screw sizes blah de blah, so excuse the possible simplicity of this question. I have a GigaPan Epic Pro and a Manfrotto 475B Pro Geared Tripod. I also have a 2 way tilt head that came with my Monopod which I am currently using as the head for this tripod as well. 

Problem is that this head doesn't seem the most stable to place the massive GigaPan unit on with a Nikon D4 and a 400mm lens (all in all a damn heavy setup!). The GigaPan unit has what I call the 'normal' screw (or is it a thread?) which is the same one you get in the bottom of almost every camera known to man these days (like I said, I'm useless when it comes to this stuff). The tripod has the 'big' screw (thread?) that the heads screw in to. This is all pretty normal. Here are my questions;

1- What are these screws/threads actually called, I've seen 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch thrown around a lot and I'd guess that 1/4 inch is the 'normal' one and the 3/8 the 'big' one?

2 - For the GigaPan I'd ideally place it straight onto the 'big' screw, obviously this is not possible, but would this Manfrotto 120 3/8 to 1/4 inch Adaptor be pretty much what I am after.

These might seem very simple questions but trust me, I consider myself a pretty decent photographer but when it comes to this I really struggle to get my head around it.

Thanks!

(also I didn't have the rep to create the tag 'GigaPan', but I think it should be, so feel free to add it! )


Question: Applications of recoil principle in classical physics
Answer: Yarkovsky effect (almost like a photon rocket, I think).

Non-uniform thermal radiation (because 'day' is hotter than 'night') of a celestial object can give a net recoil. More spoiler:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarkovsky_effect