[USMA:31883] Re: "UK measures"/FFU's

[ewc]

Hi Bill   you wrote <<It's easier to accept if you regard the rules regarding spelled-out unit names and unit symbols as the grammar of SI.>> I completely accept that this is true for you Bill.  My point is that it is not true for me.  I think our brains got wired up differently (probably before birth). <<I don't think the participants in the quadrennial CGPM (Conf�rence G�n�rale des Poids et Mesures) want to bully anyone>> We must have run across a completely different set of French academics Bill.  Bullying is terrible in US and UK academic institutions but surely worse still in French ones.  I do not have specific knowledge of  Conf�rence G�n�rale des Poids et Mesures - but have studied the hierarchy and early development of UNESCO quite closely.  {And though I'm no fan of Pierre Bourdieu he makes a very good job of reinforcing my general point in some of his books.) <<However, in order to have SI units universally understood, the definitions need to be prescriptive (as in a specification), not descriptive (as in a dictionary).>> To me it seems you are mixing up "understood" with "acted upon" here. And that goes to the very root of my objections Thanks for your thoughts rob (Robert Tye, York, UK)