Dear All,
To investigate the idea of a Museum of Measurement you could do worse
that start here: http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html but be
warned that Russ Rowlett has been working on this for years and he is
still developing this page. There are lots and lots of old pre-metric
measures to be considered.
On a second issue, I don't think that this project should be called
Museum of Measurement Systems because I don't think that there ever
was a system before the invention of the universal measure by John
Wilkins in 1668. I am aware of such attempts of devising so-called
systems such as foot-pound-second and foot-slug-second, but these were
never able to make the claim that the metric system can do with ease —
the metric system is 'For all time, for all people'. As you know it
was John Wilkins idea that eventually became the French metric system
in the 1790s and then the International System of Units (SI) in 1960.
On 2008/08/16, at 4:43 PM, Martin Vlietstra wrote:
Paul,
As a Texan you should include the vara, a measurement that was, I
believe,
standardized in you home state. :-)
Regards
Martin
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf
Of Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
Sent: 15 August 2008 20:36
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:41581] Museum of Measurement Systems
Modern metrication affects commerce, not figures of speech. The
Australian
metrication movement specifically avoided metricating the language
of the
street, but there was confidence that street language would follow
commerce,
and from what I could tell on my visit, it did so considerably well.
Yet,
here
in the U.S., we are going to have a tough time with those who want
to cling
to
the old units; we are going to have many Steve Thoburns. So, I propose
establishing a special WOMBAT speakeasy, to be called the Museum of
Measurement
Systems. I'll start compiling it now. It will have the cubit and the
omer as
well as the league and the furlong, and other units that are clearly
not
part
of the SI. There, the adherents to medieval metrology can live it up
without
interfering with the march toward metric. I'll even throw in my
apothecary
scruples and drams from 1974!
--
Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
Public Relations Director
U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc.
www.metric.org
3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122
Midland TX 79707-2872 USA
+1(432)528-7724
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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
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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]
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