Mr. Hector Vera, PhD Candidate New School For Social Research New York, NY Dear Mr. Vera,
I just received my copy of the July-August 2010 issue of Metric Today, the main feature of which was your article on the American "Metric Apostle" and library pioneer Melvil Dewey (of Dewey Clssification System fame). Because of your article, I could not leave the area of mail kiosk at my apartment complex! I just stood out there, reading your superbly written and downright exciting article, and could not do anything else until I finished reading it. I want to thank you so much for expending such a great deal of effort and craftsmanship in preparing this piece for USMA. I was not aware of the metric connection to Dewey until now, and I suspect other members, to say nothing of many Americans, did not know of it either. It is a a very important tool for the U.S. metrication goal because it places the very storehouses of knowledge, the libraries, in a decimal measurement context. To think of all the years many of us have spent saying, "Dewey Decimal" without knowing that Dewey's quest for "decimal" paralleled a quest for "metric!" Those of us who have been working to achieve the goal of U.S. metrication and were unaware of Dewey's role now have one more powerful ally. Each month, I receive extra copies of Metric Today to give out on a complimentary basis. I look forward to visiting my local library this week to leave copies of the issue with the library administration. I am also urging USMA members, as well as members of the U.S. measurement standards community (NIST and IEEE) to, if possible, pass on copies of this issue to librarians. Thank you again for all of your hard work for USMA. SI-incerely, Paul Trusten, R.Ph. Vice President and Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. trus...@grandecom.net www.metric.org www.twitter.com/usmetric +1(432)528-7724