On 2009/03/31, at 10:28 AM, Stan Jakuba wrote:
Dear Pat:
No question about it. I wish the author had used, at least in the
calculations, SI only; the equations and comparisons would be
simpler. However, being used to the muddle of units seen in the US,
the books seems VERY metric. The note from me should have been more
specific by saying not just "METRIC" but also "not necessarily SI."
I agree with you on the terminology also. The book seems a bit
hastily written.
The amount of information provided in this work makes me to forgive
the units mess and inconsistent terminology. I had not come across
a better and more complete treatment of this subject from an
English language native author in metric than this.
Stan J.
Dear Stan,
Thanks for your additional remarks on this book. Like you, I was
impressed with the research, the content, and the accessible way he
presented the issues. As you say, and I agree, it is 'a better and
more complete treatment of this subject from an English language
native author'.
That said, however, I am still appalled at his readiness to completely
throw out hundreds of years of work on standardisation of quantity
definitions and unit definitions apparently on a whimsy in favor of
definitions of his own devising. As David JC MacKay is Professor of
Natural Philosophy, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge his
redefinition of energy and power and his constant misuse of these
words is simply, in my opinion, not good enough. Consider this example
from page 24: 'But this book concerns all forms of energy consumption
and production, and I will use the word “power” for all of them.' I
hope that he would not accept such sloppy writing from his students at
the University of Cambridge!
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
----- Original Message -----
From: Pat Naughtin
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: 09 Mar 26, Thursday 03:50
Subject: [USMA:44120] Re: Without Hot Air
On 2009/03/26, at 11:09 AM, Stan Jakuba wrote:
If you are interested in the performance of sources and dissipaters
of energy, this book has it all. And it is METRIC.
www.withouthotair.com
Dear Stan,
Thanks for this reference. The writer has done some fascinating
research and I particularly like the presentation of the graphical
information.
However, I was appalled at the author's complete muddling of the two
physical quantities: power and energy. Like many modern media
sources, I had to stop every time he chose to use the word power to
see if he really meant energy and, more unusually, vice versa.
Another problem is his use of old pre-metric measures (such as miles
per gallon) inter-muddled with metric and SI units. It's a real
nuisance that he felt he had to do this in what is otherwise a good
source of information about sustainable energy.
I suppose that your perceptive and mine differ quite a bit.
You say that the book 'is METRIC' and I suppose it is when viewed
from your environment in the USA.
I say it still has a lot of metric measurement problems and issues
when viewed from an Australian environment.
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.
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.
