Concerning Don Hillger's comment in the July-August 2016 "Metric Today" on
the Sky & Telescope resisting metrication, there is another popular
astronomy magazine, Astronomy, which does a better job. If I recall
correctly from having perused the latest issue at the supermarket,
Astronomy is now using at least dual units, with the metric units in
bigger type. S&T uses some metric too, but not as comprehensively as
Astronomy.
I find the mish-mosh of units in the astronomy magazines particularly
disheartening. These are supposed to be scientific, after all. Eyepiece
focal lengths are regularly given in millimeters, whereas focal lengths of
telescopes are often given in inches. This makes absolutely no sense, as
calculations of magnification, etc., use both figures, so one has to be
converted to the other before you can plug it into the formulae.
After all this time you'd think that these magazines would have bit the
bullet and just gone metric. Maybe astronomy aficionados should write S&T
and say that they are switching to Astronomy because the later is almost
completely metricated. The commercial argument always wins over the
intellectual. --Martin Morriso
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