The authors of the 18th century's pre-revolutionary Encyclopedie (Diderot cs) also covered weights and measures and they did not know how things would develop in the future. They hoped for unification. But I saw some tables of length and weight in the Encyclopedie and they used British units as standard. This was understandable and justified as British units in the pre-metric era were the closest approach to a standardized system. Don't let the BWMA know that! They will use what was justified then as propaganda for today's issues. And the Cousteau's who speak ifp in heavily accented English in their films - I saw one of their films recently for a time, then I switched off with disgust - and the idiots from Maporama can not derive any justification for their lunacy from the choice the Encyclopedists made. The latter were right, the former are bootlickers without a shred of self respect in their bodies, the fifth column. What do NLG and Cousteau's films also have in common? The NLG magazine and Cousteau's films are beautiful. However, I have been seeing more metric programs on NLG television for some time.
Han Historian of Dutch Metrication, Nijmegen, The Netherlands ----- Original Message ----- From: "kilopascal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2002 12:38 AM Subject: [USMA:19993] Re: Some of you might find this interesting > 2002-05-09 > > As wonderful as this seems to us as a good reason to adopt SI, it will have no affect on the followers of the BWMA. The BWMA will argue that the British units are the true form, dating back almost uncorrupted to the time of Adam and Eve. They will claim that they have had a standard set of weights and measures dating to the time of the Magna Charta, where there was only one set of measures and not the mess you see below. > > You have read in Tony Bennett's article the sour attitude his kind processes regarding the events in France in the 1790's. I'm sure Bennett and the rest of the BWMA would remark that the French should have adopted the British units or at least set their livres, etc. to equal those of the British. > Designing a new system that would conquer the world and displace the establish British units is considered an unforgivable evil in their minds. > > This is their Armageddon and they are going to make the most of it. Be prepared to fight a harsh battle! > > > John
