Dear all:
While I think Pat's poster idea at
http://metricationmatters.com/docs/SIMetricUnitsVsUSAMeasures.pdf is good in
concept, I do have some issues with the actual poster itself. As it stands, i
believe it can, in a general workplace environment, actually do more harm than
good, as it makes metric look too hard! And the use of so many 'pre-metric'
(as the non-metric side is titled) units looks a bit too contrived to be
believable (even if true), while some bits of it are open to challenge.
Overall, and without getting too specific, I believe that the following changes
should be made:
1. List only the first 5 base units - the remaining two are not commonly
encountered in daily use in most industries and professions, and can scare
people into thinking they have to learn some strange new units in order to
understand metric - they don't..
2. Likewise, filter the derived units and the prefixes to those commonly
encountered (e.g. for prefixes, limit the list from say nano to tera).
3. There are some issues regarding the choice of units in the 'pre-metric'
list, viz:
Again, list only those units commonly encountered in daily use in most
industries or professions (this will still be a big list).
Why the inclusion of compound units (e.g. gallons per day) - why not equivalent
compound units on the metric side?
Why the inclusion of UK-specific units (the list is headed "...still in use in
the USA")
Why the inclusion of Mach number (Mach numbers are dimensionless, and can be
converted to km/h or mph, or any other compound unit involving distance per
unit of time)
Is it right to say that the metric yard, millimeters of mercury, and so on, are
'pre-metric'? They may not be SI, but they are metric (sort of).
Cheers
John F-L
----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Trusten
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 6:09 AM
Subject: [USMA:45856] Re: Posters for National Metric Week in the USA
Pat et al.,
Please note that the NCTM Web page for National Metric Week has not yet been
updated for 2009. This year's NMW runs for the week of 4 to 10 October (not
sure why the 2008 NCTM dates only covered five days). I have contacted NCTM to
request that this page be updated.
Paul T.
----- Original Message -----
From: Pat Naughtin
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: 19 September, 2009 20:13
Subject: [USMA:45848] Posters for National Metric Week in the USA
Dear All,
This year 'National Metric Week' will be from October 6 to October 10, see
http://www.nctm.org/news/content.aspx?id=10248
You may recall that I suggested that one way to support National Metric
Week in the USA is to place posters around your place of work. With the help of
Bill Hooper and Jim Palfreyman, I have slightly revised this suggestion for a
poster:
http://metricationmatters.com/docs/SIMetricUnitsVsUSAMeasures.pdf
So now the item from the Metrication matters newsletter would read:
One thing you can do to promote the metric system at your work place is to
pin pro-metric items on to notice boards around your school or work place. Here
are some that you might like to download and print ready for 'National Metric
Week' in the USA.
For a general-purpose notice board think about:
http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/degreesCelsiusPoster.pdf ,
http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/NationalMetricDay.pdf and
http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/SIMetricUnitsVsUSAMeasures.pdf
Or if you work in a scientific or engineering environment you might like:
http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/EnergyWords.pdf
The 'National Metric Week' is strongly supported by the U.S. Metric
Association; see http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/metric-week.html for
details.
As a gift for your friends and to remind them of 'National Metric Week' you
might like to pass along this one minute YouTube reference to 'Let's Get
Metric' by Scott Wheatley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeyGEwjLPGw
Or if you want to illustrate the cost of not going metric refer them to the
YouTube video, American Chopper vs The Metric System, where the mechanics are
trying to figure out the answer to the question: 'What is the difference
between 180 millimetres and 140 millimetres'? except they seem unaware of the
initial metric design and build specifications for this all-metric model bike,
see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omh8Ito-05M
And finally a YouTube reference for schools apparently made with the
support of NASA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQPQ_q59xyw&feature=rec-HM-rev-rn
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, that you can obtain from
http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html
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.
