On Wed, 21 Feb 2001, Joseph B. Reid wrote:
> >Gene Mechtly wrote in USMA 11065:
> >>I advocate meter squared (m2 as the simplified symbol) for the US, not
> >>hectare.
> Joe continued
> >Here it is not a question of symbols, but of numerical values; 1 ha = 10
> >000 m2. Increasing the number of digits in the area of a farm by 4
> >non-significant digits is not good practice, as well as being inconvenient.
My focus was on meter squared in preference to hectare, not on
their respective symbols.
Joe continues:
> Further to the above, do you think you can persuade a farmer who has a
> quarter section to say that he has a farm of 647 000 m2?
I would not even try your suggestion.
I would hope to teach the farmer and his children to say
"Our farm is about six hundred fifty thousand square meters"
and to understand the meaning of 647 E3 as they might already punch the
more precise number into their calculator or into their PC.
Gene.
