See below. -----Original Message----- From: Joseph B. Fox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: September 22, 2001 03:54 Subject: Re: Fwd: Measures >The proliferation of apparently unrelated units of measurement in our system >is anathema to the tidy minded. But if it's so bad, how come it's survived >all these centuries? That quagmire of disparate units has survived primarily because of mental inertia. That mental inertia is supported by 'traditionalists' such as BWMA. They support a measurement language that has more dialects than there are in [with apologies] India. This attitude is at sharp variance with their pride in the universality of the English language. The [sometimes heroic] efforts to perpetuate British Mixture units (to coin a phrase) is clearly based on emotion, not genuine reason. Duncan After all, we in the UK have been free to use the >metric system for over a century - there are still very few takers. > >Part of the answer is that the various units are relevant to the human form. >We in Britain weigh ourselves in stones, each of which comprises 14 pounds. Where, in the human body do we find stones weighing 14 pounds??? D. >An offence to decimalists everywhere, but we like it - we can guess each >other's weight at a glance. The fact that we use a completely different >measurement to buy apples is irrelevant. No, it merely fragments information. D. > >Similarly, the foot has many physiological advantages, much documented >elsewhere. Suffice it to say that most cultures have in their pre-metric >past used a unit of length very similar to our own dear twelve inches. And >note how often measurements in metric countries are in multiples of 30cm. > >Back to shillings and pence? Well, we were told that decimalising the >currency would make calculations easier. I beg to differ: the "virtue" of >decimal systems is, in fact, its weakness. How easy it is to lose track of >figures which are only identified by their relation to a dot on a line! My >cohort learnt to add up and take away £sd in year two of infants' school. Piece of >cake. Smart kid! Had he nothing more usefull on which to spend his, and his teacher's, time? But, is BWMA going to campaign for the restoration of £sd? If not, why not? D. > >---------- >>From: mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>Subject: Fwd: Measures >>Date: Sep 21, 2001, 18:40 >> > >>Have not replied to this. >>Any takers? >> >>ss >> >> >> >>>From: "Duncan Bath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>Subject: Measures >>>Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 13:23:22 -0400 >>>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 >>> >>>Noted the BWMA 'wheel' with "feet & inches", "pounds & ounces" and "pints >>>& gallons" printed around its perimeter. >>> >>>By conservative count, British Measure embraces 10 [ten] disparate measures >>>for the physical quantitiy - length (inches, feet, yards, fathoms etc.). >>> >>>By conservative count, British Measure embraces 7 [seven] disparate measures >>>for mass. >>> >>>By very conservative count, BM employs 10 [ten] more-or-less unrelated >>>units for volume. >>> >>>For power, people must be prepared to deal with 5 [five] different dialects >>>(not counting watts, kilowatts, megawatts etc.). >>> >>>To converse in area problems, at least 6 [six] different expressions are in >>>play - including the ludicrous 'acre'. >>> >>>Seems to me that BWMA ought to design a new wheel! A much BIGGER wheel. >>> >>>Why would otherwise rational people defend such a quagmire of units when a >>>coherrent SYSTEM is in general [World] use and available to all but the >>>most determinably insular? If there is an answer to this question surely, >>>it would include the restoration of Pounds, Shillings and Pence for monetary >>>measure. >>> >>>Duncan >>> >>
