Mike Joy wrote in USMA 21407: >I am not aware of anyone in the world using cm for anything except for body >height.
In 1976 Albert J. Mettler carrried out an international survey of metric
practice. With regard to the use of the centimetre he found:
engi- arch- caren- plumb- boby cloth-
neers tects ters ers meas. ing
Europe ------------------------------------------
Austria x x x
Belgium x x x x x x
Czechoslovakia x x x x
Denmark x x
Finland x x x x x x
France x x x x x x
Germany, West x x x x
Germany, East x x x x x
Greece x x x x x
Hungary x x x x x
Iceland x x x
Italy x x x
Luxemburg x x x
Poland x x x x
Spain x x x x x x
Sweden x x x
Switzerland x x
Yugoslavia x x x x x
Africa
Algeria x x x x x x
Botswsana x
Cameroom x x
Egypt x x x x x x
Mauritius x x
Morocco x x x x x x
Rhodesia x x
South Africa x x
Sudan x x
Tchad x x x x x
Uganda x x x x x x
Zaire x x x x x x
Asia
Cyprus x x x
India x x x x x
Indonesia x x x x x x
Iran x x x x x x
Iraq x
Israel x x x x x x
Japan x x x x x x
Jordan x x x x x
Kuwait x x x x x x
Philippines x x x x x
Thailand x x x x
Turkey x x x x x x
South America
Chile x x x x x x
Columbia x x x x x x
Ecuador x x x x x x
Paraguay x x x x
Peru x x x x
Uruguay x x x x x x
Venezuela x x x x x x
Central America
Costa Rica x x x x x x
Cuba x x x x
Guatemala x x x x x x
Haiti x x x x x
Honduras x x x
Mexico x x x x x
El Salvador x x x x
>Here in Australia, even the "mm" is ass
umed. If we want to by a sheet of
>board for the wall for instance, we just say "twelve hundred by twenty-four
>hundred please" and it's obvious what it is. It's hardly likely to be twelve
>hundred cm wide, or even twelve hundred feet (god forbid). This is how
>Americans will be talking soon (don't know when) and the sooner the better.
>
>On another point, I notice everyone is putting a space between the numeral
>and the unit. There is no space (as in the ifp system) so it's 1200mm or 1
>200mm, not 1200 mm.
>Mike Joy
>Perth, Australia
The *Bureau International des Poids et Mesures* uses a space between the
number and the symbol, even in the case of degree Celsius, e.g. 20 �C. (I
am an independent thinker; I write 20�C.) The use of a space is
particularly important when uses "l" as the symbol for litre. Does "50l"
mean 50 litres or 501 something?
Joseph B.Reid
17 Glebe Road West
Toronto M5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
