Dear Edward Taylor,
I just read your article, 'Start-Ups Race to Produce 'Green' Cars' By
EDWARD TAYLOR (May 6, 2008; Page B1) that I found at: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121002128666768637-search.html?KEYWORDS=green+vehicles&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
)
I thoroughly enjoyed finding out about the recent trends in the design
of green vehicles and I will continue to observe these developments by
actively seeking to find your by-line.
However, I was intrigued by the accuracy and precision of the measures
you chose as you dumbed down the metric data for your audience in the
USA. It seems to me that 111.9 miles is a little too precise for the
original 180 kilometres and that 62.1 miles per hour is way too
precise for the original metric unit 100 kilometres per hour. When you
are dumbing things down for the public in the USA you need to take
more care with your rounding after you have done your precise
calculations for the down-dumbing.
As you know, the USA is the last industrialised nation to admit to
using the metric system even though it is used extensively in the USA
and especially in the motor industry. You are of course familiar with
the fact that all cars in the USA have been designed and manufactured
in millimetres since the 1970s. (See the humor article 'Don't use
metric' at http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/DontUseMetric.pdf to
appreciate the full use of metric units, albeit hidden, in the USA).
I suppose that you are aware of the cost of dumbing down metric units
to the economy of the USA. For a start all of the children in the USA
have to spend an extra year in mathematic classes to bring them up to
about 28th out of 30 OECD countries — learning about inches, feet, and
yards so you can drive your all metric car, while sipping a litre of
soft drink, to work in the all metric automotive industry costs a lot
of time and a lot of money. (See: Phelps, Richard P. (1992) "The Case
for U.S. Metric Conversion Now," Education Week, December 9 for
details of the cost of non-metrication in USA schools.
On a broader scale you might be interested in the cost of not using
metric to the whole economy of the USA — see http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/CostOfNonMetrication.pdf
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/
to subscribe.
