Pat, Please see a comment below.
Gene. ---- Original message ---- >Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:27:51 +1100 >From: Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [USMA:40709] Whole number rule >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> ... > In the medical community I can see very real > advantages for having a 'whole number rule' for the > metric system... Unfortunately, whole numbers are often achieved without use of the full set of SI prefixes, and at the expense of coherence. For example, micrograms per deciliter, and milligrams per deciliter for concentrations of various substances in bodily fluids. These are not coherent SI combinations. The same quantities could easily be expressed in whole numbers in coherent SI units if appropriate SI prefixes are used. There seems to be a desire by medical professionals that each expression in the numerator and denominator of a quotient be "close" to the actual amount of each. e.g. 2 micrograms of PSA in one deciliter of serum. An exception is the coherent units defining BMI: kg/m^2 ...
