Gene Mechtly wrote:
....
> However, under "Resources for Metric ..." they do give addresses for
> two NIST Web sites, and for USMA (Don Hillger's Web site) which explain
> the SI. There is no reference to the Federal Register Notice of 1998,
> which states the official "interpretation" of SI for the US.
....
Gene, as I've pointed out to you privately, the Federal Register Notice
of 1998 (FRN) is *not* the definitive and authoritative interpretation
of the SI by the Secretary of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. You have
stated this a number of times but without justification or supporting
citations.
The FRN is just what its name states; it is a notice, much like the
legal notices published in newspapers by local governments. The purpose
of publishing something in the Federal Register is to document the
promulgation of a rule, regulation, law, standard, or whatever. It is a
notice, an announcement. Legal notices are infamous for containing
errors and have only small standing in court, giving way entirely to
official documents. Indeed the FRN you cite has a typographic error and
does not include the katal. As far as I know, no correction or update
has been published in the Federal Register. If you have citations to
those two updates, please provide them. The online version does include
a correction to the typographic error and it adds the katal. But that is
a web document and it does not appear in the Federal Register.
For an authoritative interpretation of the SI for the U.S., please see
the current copy of NIST Special Publication 330. This document is free
of that typographic error and it includes the katal. It is available
from the Government Printing Office. A web version of this latest
edition has not yet been published, but that is a moot point. The paper
document would take precedence anyway, but the paper copy of SP 330
would take precedence over a paper copy of the FRN.
I have checked with NIST and with an expert on administrative law, so
this is not something I've made up or have created out of air as my
personal opinion. Both of my contacts were adamant about this. NIST SP
330 takes precedence over the FRN. The FRN carries little weight in a
court of law, especially given the existence of a hard copy document.
Your persistence in citing the FRN as the most authoritative reference
here is tantamount to supporting the incorrect number in the FRN and to
stating that the U.S. does not recognize the katal. The purpose of the
FRN is essentially to alert people to the fact that an interpretation
has been made and that inquiries should be sent to NIST (contact's name
and address are provided).
Jim
--
Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!"
James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/
10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
