On 2006-11-29 12:49, Carl William Spitzer IV wrote: > On Sun, 2006-11-26 at 15:24 -0500, James Knott wrote: > > >> <snip> >> One huge advantage to the metric system is the abandonment of hoary, >> arbitrary units in favour of a consistent and logical system. >> >> > Like the hunk of rock which is the basis of the kilo which is stored in > switzerland since before WWII. > Actually, it's a hunk of platinum-iridium, and it's always been in Sèvres, France :-)
But I think James was referring to the strange numerical combinations found in the Imperial system, such as 7000 grains in a pound (unless it's a Troy pound, aka. apothecaries' pound, which is 5760 grains, but those are different grains too), or 16 ounces in a pound (same caveat: unless it's a Troy pound, and the ounces aren't the same there either), or 12 inches in a foot, 5280 feet in a mile (unless it's a nautical mile, at least they use the same foot)... etc etc. :-) > I agree about the french. > At least in Paris, you can say "bon weekend" and everyone will understand you -- try that in Montreal, and they look at you funny :-) -- The best way to accelerate a computer running Windows is at 9.81 m/s² -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
