Dear All, It would appear that Nelsons column was made to be 50 metres high with a radius of 3 metres at the base and the statue of Nelson adds a further 5 metres to the height. Using post 1959 metric inches these dimensions dumb down to 164 feet, 10 feet, and 16 feet 5 inches respectively.
However, it would appear that dumbing these measurements down with varying degrees of accuracy has been a long practiced sport. As a follow up to the article about Nelson's Column in the Daily Mail, someone kindly sent this reference to me: http://www.victorianlondon.org/buildings/nelson.htm listing the following heights for Nelson's Column: 145 feet (twice), 145 feet 6 inches,156 feet, 162 feet 6 inches, and 177 feet. It's no wonder that pre-metric people remain confused by measurements. Cheers, Pat Naughtin PO Box 305 Belmont 3216 Geelong, Australia 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin is manager of http://www.metricationmatters.com an internet website that focuses on the many issues, methods and processes that individuals, groups, companies, and nations use when upgrading to the metric system. Contact Pat Naughtin at [EMAIL PROTECTED] On 2007 06 1 5:38 AM, "Pat Naughtin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 2007 06 1 3:56 AM, "Scott Hudnall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > Brij: >> > >> > There is supposed to be symbolism involved in choosing the height of the >> tower >> > - but it is lost on 95% of the world, since they do not understand feet. >> > >> > The number 1776 is supposed to symbolize freedom, since it is the year the >> US >> > gained independence from England. I don't think the designers had promoting >> > the use of SI in mind when they chose this height. > > Dear Scott, Brij, and All, > > Symbols can be useful for a long time. You may be interested in a question and > answer that was published in the London Daily Mail on May 23 that went > something like this (I haven't seen the published article but I have had > feedback from it). > > Question: > Why is Trafalgar Square - constructed to commemorate victory over the French - > laid out to metric rather than Imperial dimensions? > > Answer: > I am indebted to Pat Naughtin of http://www.metricationmatters.com.html > <http://www.metricationmatters.com.html> for his help with this answer. Pat > writes: > > The use of metric units to design and to build Trafalgar Square makes sense > when you put it into its historical context. When the Houses of Parliament in > London burnt down, in 1834, the physical standards for the Imperial yard, the > Imperial pound, and the Imperial gallon were all destroyed. A great debate > then ensued about the merits of introducing the metric system into Britain > because, by 1834, the metric system had already demonstrated its superiority > in several countries. > > By the late 1830s the metric system had many English supporters and these > included the English architect Charles Barry, who was born in London in 1795 > and died there, as Sir Charles Barry, in 1860. > > Barry was apprenticed to a firm of surveyors before training as an architect > in Italy from 1817 to 1820. He was influenced by the architects of the Italian > Renaissance and was greatly impressed by the simplicity of building with > metric units. When Barry returned to England he designed the Travellers Club, > the House of Commons and the House of Lords (with Augustus Welby Pugin), the > Athenaeum in Manchester, Trafalgar Square, the Cabinet Office, and the Reform > Club. > > As I understand it, Charles Barry designed Trafalgar Square, in 1840, to be > exactly 100 metres long by 100 metres wide and to have a 5 metre wide roadway > along all four sides. This made it exactly 110 metres by 110 metres from the > building lines. > > (When I decided to check this, I used GoogleEarth to look at an image of > Trafalgar Square from a height of 150 metres. However, I don¹t yet know how to > use Google Earth¹s measuring tools, so I measured the length of a London bus > and used that as my scale. Knowing that a London bus is exactly 9.144 metres, > I estimated that 12 bus lengths would fit across Trafalgar Square so its width > must be 12 London bus lengths x 9.144 metres = 109.728 metres and this looks > to me a lot like a 100 metre square with an allowance for a 5 metre roadway on > each side.) > > Among the other interesting metric facts in this part of London are that the > Parliamentary Clock in the Westminster Tower is exactly 50 metres above the > ground (the bell in this tower is called Big Ben¹) and that Nelson¹s Column > is also exactly 50 metres to the platform on which the statue of Nelson > stands. > > By the way, Pat Naughtin will be in London on July 14 this year to speak at > the Annual General Meeting of the United Kingdom Metric Association. You can > obtain details of this meeting from the UKMA Secretary, Derek Pollard, at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] or by phoning 020 8374 6997 > > 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 > > This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may > contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email > and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or > wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised > use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. If you > receive this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and > notify the sender by return email. >
