Thanks Inge
Legacy measurements are a pain. It we had a clean slate to begin with and
our present knowledge, we would not be doing what we are doing and that is
why there is need to consider the possibility of rational change to metric
where possible. Some things are not worth the bother.
I don't advocate ripping out all of the train tracks (because of reasons
rooted in ancient history) and relaying them but anyone who has traveled
into Russia on a train from Western Europe has observed what happens at the
boarder will realize what a difference it might make in travel time. (I
understand that Russia consciously adopted an alternative for strategic reasons)
One thing I found very clever when I lived in Russia was the coinage. The
smaller value brass coins 1,2,3 and 5 kopecks could be counted for value by
simply weighing them as their value was also their gram weight.
Cheers,
Joe
In a message dated 4/14/2009 11:21:31 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Noone is perfect, not even in Europe. If I go to the timberyard to buy
some
boards, let's say 10 meters of dimension 25x100 mm, they will just look at
me as being stupid. You see, THICKNESS is still in inches, but WIDTH in
millimeters. So, I must say 10 meters 1"x100 mm. If they are very modern,
you may ask for 22 mm or 28 mm, and then you get 25 mm, which is one
inch.
And nearly all builders say 2 inch nails, 3 inch nails etc, but the length
is in millimeters. And the tire pressure ought to be kPa, but all say kg
(kilogram). And we sin every day by saying that the barometer shows 700
millimeters instead of Pa. And we say that the wind speed is nn knots
instead of m/s. And all millions of folding rules we have here are named
'inch tools' and not meter tools. And the beer is 33 cl and not an even
multiple of 1000 cl. And cooks use teaspoons and not milligrams. And not
one
normal man dare say his BMW got nn kilowatts. And textiles and an silts
are
name with mesh and not openings per centimeter. And diamonds are valued in
carat, which is a little nut. I could go on until you fell asleep.
Viva the imperfection!
Inge
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Whiteman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 7:00 PM
Subject: Re: [TN] European Union Council Directive 80/181/EEC (Metric
Directive) - NTC
Remember, whether it's 9.8 m/sec2 or 32.2 ft/sec2, it's still 1 G.
Lee Whiteman, PMP
Senior Member Engineering Staff
L-3 Communications East
Telephone: (856) 338-3508
FAX: (856) 338-2906
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joe Fjelstad
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 12:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] European Union Council Directive 80/181/EEC (Metric
Directive) - NTC
Steve
Your note reminded me of one the worst modifications made to the English
system and that was the decimal inch. This allowed users to think they
had
a metric system equivalent and did not need to make the change, which was
a
BIG mistake.
Let go crash some more Mars explorers... ;-)
Cheers,
Joe
In a message dated 4/14/2009 8:57:29 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Mike,
As a similar aside, I have had many 'knowledgeable' individuals verbally
refer to a 'mm' [millimeter] as a 'mil'.... ouch!
Let me assure you, that when bonding '1 mil' gold wire, I am referring to
'0.001 inch'. 'One mil' is so much easier to say than 25.4 µm [or
microns]
....[yes, I know all the arguments, but the real problem comes in when
people do not pay attention to labels. In the olden days of chalk board
and
slate, we were taught to 'mind our labels' when it came to math. Alas,
ignorance is bliss.]
Should anyone have any 1 mm gold wire they wish to dispose of, I would
gladly put it into my unemployment fund!! I would even spring for
shipping!!
We'll get there eventually.
Steve
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