On 2004 May 25 , at 1:35 PM, Tom Wade VMS Systems wrote:
So the reason we have power-of-ten prefixes close to the base unit is because
(a) that is where most people operate and (b) that is where the convenience
of being able to use prefixes to make the number manageable is most felt.
I agree that Tom's suggested reasons for having additional prefixes close to the base value (his a and b above) are valid arguments to do it, but I do not believe that is the reason it was done. I believe the original metric system was intended to have a new prefix for every additional power of ten (both positive and negative powers). But it quickly became too cumbersome so they began using just the powers that were multiples of 3. That worked fine, but the other prefixes were never dropped.
Outside that range, power-of-ten prefixes aren't much more useful than
power-of-1000 prefixes, so creating them would only make the system more
complicated by giving us too many prefixes to remember.
I agree (or should I say, Tom agree with me), but I think the same argument can be used to claim that the prefixes deci, centi, deka and hecto also are too many prefixes, thus making the system more complicated than necessary by giving us too many prefixes to remember.
Tom concluded:
So it's not prejudice, just good basic design and power-of-10 prefixes are an essential part of it.
So I don't think it is good design. If it is good at all, it was just dumb luck (a historical accident).
Regards, Bill Hooper Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA <><><><><><><><><><><><> Make it simple; Make it Metric <><><><><><><><><><><><>
