Re: [USMA:38469] Re: Unexpected appearance of SI in US mediaThe problem with
cooking arises when I am confronted with American recipes - what is a "stick of
butter"? I havn't got a clue. In the UK, we buy our butter in 250g or 500g
packs. The "Concise Oxford Dictionary" devotes a whole page to the word
"stick", but I am left none the wiser. On the other hand, a French recipe
might have "100 g buerre" I can look up the meaning of "buerre" in any
English-French dictionary. This, I think, illustrates the need to use a
consistent set of units across the nations of the earth.
----- Original Message -----
From: James Jason Wentworth
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 7:44 PM
Subject: [USMA:38475] Re: Unexpected appearance of SI in US media
*Sigh* When I prepare tomato soup for lunch, I add one can of water (using
the soup can, as instructed on the label) to the condensed soup in the sauce
pan, then heat it on simmer, stirring occasionally.
That's not a scientific experiment, just a meal, and the units used in
preparing it are irrelevent to me as well as to 99.999% of other people who
prepare similar cans of soup. (Other recipes do require greater precision in
ingredient quantities, temperatures, and cooking times, of course). But even
then, the choice of units is irrelevant. What matters is that they be
consistently used in a recipe.
The same is true for most of the daily activities of most people--it doesn't
matter what units (if any) they actively use as long as they are from the same
system or collection of units.
-- Jason
----- Original Message -----
From: Pat Naughtin
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 9:26 PM
Subject: [USMA:38470] Re: Unexpected appearance of SI in US media
On 2007 04 21 2:42 PM, "James Jason Wentworth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Many people even in metric countries (cooks, carpenters, plumbers, etc.)
don't consider *all* measurement scientific. -- Jason
Dear Jason,
I think that the Marquis de Condorcet (1743/1794) put it rather well when
he referred to the metric system as:
'A tous les peuples; a tous les temps'
('For all people; for all time')
Together with the developers of the metric system in the 1790s he believed
that the metric system was for everyone - and in all activities.
They were aware that nothing affects human activities so much as the choice
of the methods of measurement. No other aspect of our behavior influences the
course of human activity so directly and so universally. I think that this was
recognised by the developers of the metric system when they adopted the Marquis
de Condorcet's motto.
Looking at this a little more broadly, it seems that there are four
universal methods of written communication.
The four methods that cross all language barriers are:
q the way of writing notes for music,
q the set of mathematical signs and symbols,
q the symbols for chemical elements, and
q the International System of Units (SI).
These four methods can be understood wherever you are in the world and
whatever language you use to speak and to write. It doesn't even matter if you
write with an alphabet or you use pictograms; you will still be able to
understand these four international methods.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305, Belmont, 3216
Geelong, Australia
Phone 61 3 5241 2008
Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter,
'Metrication matters'.
Subscribe at http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
Pat is recognised as a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist
(LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. He is also editor of the
'Numbers and measurement' section of the Australian Government Publishing
Service 'Style manual - for writers, editors and printers'. He is a Member of
the National Speakers Association of Australia and the International Federation
for Professional Speakers. See: http://www.metricationmatters.com
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