John Nichols asked in USMA 23855:
I thought the french yard was supposed to be close to a metre
At 06:09 PM 08-12-2002, you wrote:
John Nichols asked in USMA 23847:
Just out of interest how long was the french yard compared to the metre.
Fran�ois Cardarelli in "Scientific Unit Conversion", second English
edition, Springer, 1999, gives
toise (du Chatelet) = 1.949 090 m
--
Joseph B. Reid
2 verges (yards) = 1 toise (span)
I believe the French preferred to measure distances by the toise
rather than by the verge, just as the British prefer to measure short
distances by the yard and the Americans by the foot.
--
Joseph B. Reid
17 Glebe Road West
Toronto M5P 1C8 Telephone 416-486-6071
