Someone posted earlier in this string (didn't catch who): >>The US is overwhelmingly non-metric. Everywhere you go, most road >>signs, signs in stores, legal notices, TV advertisements are only >>in Colonial units.
This is an oft-stated assessment, and I believe it is an incorrect assessment. As has been pointed out numerous times on this forum, the USA has a huge amount of "hidden" metric. Yes, much of our public discourse and consumer products are still presented in colloquial units. However, a huge amount of the hidden economic and scientific activity in this country is metric, including things like our car companies (automobiles are metric), computer companies, the vast bulk of science practice, the military, etc. And even consumer products are more metric than most Americans realize. Go to http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/products.htm for a list. I am not saying we don't have a long ways to go -- we certainly do. But one of the most effective ways to reduce resistance to metric is by letting people know how much metric is already used in this country. Pat Naughtin wrote a tongue-in-cheek article about how NOT to use metric in the USA: http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/DontUseMetric.pdf Jim Elwell Jim Elwell, CAMS Electrical Engineer Industrial manufacturing manager Salt Lake City, Utah, USA www.qsicorp.com
