Another great letter, Bill! Thanks for supporting Stan's recommendations. I seldom read Automotive Engineering. Gene. ---- Original message ---- >Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 15:25:56 -0400 >From: Bill Hooper <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [USMA:41031] Re: Fw: letter to editor >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > >I sent this to SAE in connection with Stan Jakub's letter. >Hope a couple of these messages will begin to reverse the SAE's drift >away from SI to which Stan referred. >Bill >=================== > > >Dear Editor: > >Let me second the thoughts of Mr. Stan Jakuba who recently wrote to >you regarding the use of SI metric units in the Automotive Engineering >magazine. More and more Americans (and virtually all non-Americans) >are quite conversant with the SI metric system. Furthermore, the use >of SI units simplifies much of the relevant data and especially >comparisons of one quantity to another. > >It might be useful to show some of the material in the Olde English >units, given parenthetically after the SI version, for the benefit of >some of your readers. Those readers may still enjoy using >measurements from the Middle Ages instead of the modern measurement >system used by 95% of the world's population. However, sooner or later >those readers are going to encounter that 95% and they will need to >have at least a passing familiarity with SI metric in order to >communicate. > >In particular, for energy, the use of joules (J), and its multiples >and submultiples using the SI prefixes, is recommended, to replace the >confusing plethora of miscellaneous and incommensurable (as well as >incomprehensible) units that are extant. Similarly, watts (W) and its >multiples and submultiples is preferred to the use of non-metric power >units. The use of joules and the use of watts are related, of course, >since power is just energy divided by time (W = J/s). The relations >between the large conglomeration of non-SI power units and the equally >large conglomeration of non-SI energy units makes the use of SI units >even more desirable. There are fewer combinations for comparison and >each combination is related more simply. > >Thank you for your attention. I hope that SAE and Automotive >Engineering magazine will continue to make progress in the use of SI >units in all phases of your operation. > >Regards, >Bill Hooper >retired professor of Physics and Engineering at >The University of Virginia's >College at Wise. >
