Dear Ezra,
One of the issues that people — including scientists — face, when they
have to change the units they use, is familiarity with the old
measures and unfamiliarity with the 'new' SI units.
Generally, it takes people a little while to become familiar with the
SI units and this is best done simply by using the SI unit until you
become familiar with it.
In the case of nanometres, humor can also help as shown in these two
short YouTube videos that aim to answer the question:
How small is a nanometre?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nl87_pqOZ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1kuZG7IY8k&feature=related
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
On 2008/05/09, at 9:03 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Here is a copy of the e-mail I just sent to physorg.com. Let's see
if it gets any attention (and maybe even a response).
Ezra
=========
Dear PhysOrg:
I noted with interest an article on how scientists were able to
observe the hydrogen bond exchange that you have published on your
web site.
While the article was quite fascinating, I was disappointed to note
that you were still using the non-SI unit "angstrom" in your story.
Isn't it time, now that we have entered the 21st century, to abandon
old ways (no matter how traditional or well-worn) and replace
"angstroms" with nanometers, particularly since the use of the
angstrom is officially discouraged by both the International
Committee for Weights and Measures and the American National
Standard for Metric Practice?
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this matter.
Sincerely,
Ezra Steinberg
Technical Writer
Kirkland WA
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
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