Pat Naughtin wrote in 15762: > We also know that our measuring methods are alive and well because >their maintenance is in accord with the philosopher, Condorcet's, 1790s >maxim on the metre: > >'A tous les temps; a tous les peuples' - 'For all time; for all people'
The earliest reference to "� tous les temps, � tous les peuples" that I can find was in the international conference of 1799. The biography of Condorcet in my Encylopaedia Britannica pictures him as a mathematician, philosopher, republican, and a thoroughly admirable character, but no mention of any interest in the metric system. He died in 1794. Can you give us any more information about his maxim on the metric system? Joseph B.Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 TEL. 416-486-6071
