Joe, et al, If I am correct, the US has been using international units officially since 1890. At that time, I believe the Imperial units were legally defined in terms of the metric ones. (For whatever good that did.)
I largely refuse to use the Imperial units, unless asked, as many people, including engineers, often do. My wife is an artist who also does framing work (with a lot of help from me). Occasionally, I make a mistake and use the legitimate excuse that measuring, adding, etc, with the Imperial units most material suppliers provide set me up for an error. If I could use International units, chances of an error are enormously reduced. When I can start measurements from the beginning, on my own terms, I use international units and feel much more comfortable. So I see, in a very small way at first hand, some of the cost of using an outmoded system of units.
Incidentally, I have to admire the surveyors who, during the French Revolution, went all over the country during turbulent times with their strange equipment to determine how big a meter was.
Louis Hart
-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joe Fjelstad
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 11:52 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] European Union Council Directive 80/181/EEC (Metric Directive)
This is has been a sore spot for me for some years. Actually, the Metric
Convention was signed in Paris on May 20, 1875 by 17 countries, including
the USA and we continue to move toward its adoption "inch by inch" ;-)
Actually we have been backsliding and future generation will suffer as a result,
especially the fields of science and engineering. There is a beauty and
logic to the metric system with interrelated units of measurement rather than
disparate and arcane units of ancient origins.
The metric system makes sense where all the others are rooted in
nonsense.... furlongs per fortnight? And who can fathom the fathom? (actually it is
from the old English "faethem" which means
outstretched arms hence the length of the outstretched arms now taken as 6
feet but it only applies to depth in water [sigh] )
There is a timeless poem by Sam Walter Foss called The Calf Path
(http://www.holyjoe.net/poetry/foss3.htm) that is worth reading and pondering. This
is especially the case when one thinks about the increasingly outdated
measurement system we continue to cling to in the states like some sort of
security blanket. Unfortunately, a security blanket won't help when your
sinking into the fathoms as our children will. And so it goes...
Excuse the rant.
Joe
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