Dear Martin,
Do you remember this:
Dear Editor,
I am 40. I have never been taught Imperial measures in school and yet
I am surrounded by people who talk about inches, pints, miles and
ounces. I find it quite obscene that I have to learn about measures
that were declared moribund before I could walk.
Why did the government listen to the old stick-in-the-muds? It didn't
happen with decimal currency because it couldn't. Talk to a twenty
year old about shillings and he will think you are talking about
Austria, before the Euro. This is how it should be. The past is a
different country, we have moved on. But why did we allow some
conservative old fogeys to keep on talking about their miles, pints,
ounces, stones, feet and Fahrenheit? We should have buried these
things in the 1960s when we left the shillings and 240 pence in the
pound nonsense.
Tens, hundreds and thousands. So easy to calculate. So much easier
than twelve pennies in a shilling, twenty shillings in a pound,
sixteen ounces in a pound, fourteen pounds in a stone. Not to mention
gills, chains, rods, poles, fathoms, bushels and firkins.
A cube 100 millimetres by 100 millimetres by 100 millimetres defines a
volume of one litre, if you fill it with water it has a mass of one
kilogram. If you raise the temperature to 100 degrees the water boils.
Cool it to zero degrees and it freezes. This is simple, this is
elegant, and this is beautiful.
The oldies say: 'Don't talk to me about them kilo-whatsit things
laddie I think in inches'.
But, the oldies are trying to force me to think in old measures too —
despite the fact that all the old measures were scheduled for
replacement four years before I started primary school.
It is time we buried the imperial system. The only way do do it is to
be draconian about it. Do not allow people to ask for, demand or even
talk about imperial measures.
If you don't draw the line like that, the old fogeys will force it
down our necks for ever more. Why must my children, and probably
theirs as well as our grandchildren and great grandchildren, have to
learn about pounds and inches just because some older people will not
make a little effort?
Name and address supplied
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see
http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html
Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY
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.
On 2010/06/09, at 15:19 , Martin Vlietstra wrote:
David Cameron was probably not taught how to manipulate imperial
figures at school. He might not know how to add up 3 lb 4oz, 5 lb
14 oz and 6 lb 5 oz. It gets even more difficult using a
calculator. However Philip Hammond, the new transport minister who
is a few years old than Cameron might just remember how to do it.
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Stephen Humphreys
Sent: 08 June 2010 22:50
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:47571] Re: UK Transport Minister banishes metric in
all official communications
Please be aware that there is a change of government.
The main part of the new government (the Tories) advertised
themselves as 'Saving the pound and the ounce for Britain' in a
recent euro-election leaflet.
If I was a betting man - I would bet a huge sum that David Cameron
is not pro-metric. And now he is prime minister.
I would not be surprised if this is the first of many moves that
could lead some to believe this govt as 'anti-metric'.
It could get very interesting/disappointing/pleasing (delete
depending on your personal view)
> Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2010 20:29:12 +0100
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [USMA:47570] Re: UK Transport Minister banishes metric in
all official communications
>
>
> UK government policy on metication is, to quote one recent Prime
Minister:
>
> “that the United Kingdom should – in stages – switch from imperial
to metric units of measurement for an ever-increasing range of uses”
>
> If the Express story is true (we have to treat it with caution)
then Hammond is exceeding his authority. He has no right to obstruct
the free use of metric units in department publications. The metric
system is the offical system of measurement in the UK except for
road signs (as required in the Units of Measurement regulations
1986). Civil servants are bound by this.
>
> This politician and any others who attempt to halt or reverse
progress toward honesty in measurement should be sacked.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ezra steinberg" <[email protected]>
> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
> Sent: Monday, 7 June, 2010 8:13:56 PM
> Subject: [USMA:47547] UK Transport Minister banishes metric in all
official communications
>
>
> Is this barmy or what? Hammond has clearly gone 'round the bend ...
>
>
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/179560/This-U-turn-on-metric-is-miles-better
>
> Ezra
>
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