Dear All,
It is often said that there is a conflict between the metric system
and an old 'system' of measures in the USA.
I think that this statement leads to a false concept that there are
two 'systems'.
Going through old emails, it seems to me that as the UK and the USA
are currently facing the issue of upgrading to the International
System of units (SI), they are also facing the replacement of all of
the old measuring methods currently in use in the UK and the USA.
Here are some names of old methods that are currently in use in the UK
and the USA as methods for measuring:
* British measures
* cgs units
* Customary measures
* English measures
* Fred Flintstone measures
* fps (foot-pound-second) 'system' units
* fss (soot-slug-second) 'system' units
* ifp (inch-foot-pound)
* inch/ounce measures
* Imperial measures
* inch-pound measures
* inch-pound-pint measures
* Lulu Hunt-Peters' personal calorie (food to heat 4 pounds of water
by 1 degree Fahrenheit)
* mks units
* USA Customary measures
* USC measures
* Wombat measures
There is obvious duplication in this list and I am sure that this is
not a complete list. Please let me know of any others that you have
seen.
I am also sure that the view that the idea that there is a conflict
between two 'systems', metric and other, is profoundly false.
Note that I put the word 'system' inside parenthesis when I know that
the word, 'system', is used but no 'system' actually exists – or ever
did exist.
I added Lulu Hunt Peters' personal definition of a calorie as an
example because many scientists and engineers still believe that the
making-up of new units and new unit names is an appropriate activity.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Author of the forthcoming book, Metrication Leaders Guide.
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]
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