Dear All, You might be interested in this email interchange:
On 2011/01/13, at 07:51 , Michael Worstall wrote: > Pat ... was reading some of the thoughts of the great French economist > Jean-Baptiste Say last evening when I came across this: > > An uniformity of weights and measures, arranged upon mathematical principles, > would be a benefit to the whole commercial world, if it were wise enough to > adopt such an expedient. > Jean-Baptiste Say, A Treatise on political economy, Book III, On Consumption, > 1832 > > Unfortunately the UK Department of Transport is still enamoured with miles, > feet and inches some 200 years later. One can only be grateful that we do not > have a legacy imperial system for measuring electrical quantities as well! > > By the way thank you for the latest Mm too. > > Best regards ... Michael > > Michael V Worstall > Chartered Electrical Engineer From: Pat Naughtin Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2011 1:41 AM To: Michael Worstall Subject: Re: Metrication matters Dear Michael, Thanks for the quotation. It is interesting that Jean-Baptiste Say wrote this in 1832 while France was still suffering from the political interference in measurement matters by Napoleon with his "mesures usuelle". This Napoleonic muddle was to last in France for another 16 years. It is also interesting that the UK is still suffering from the political interference in measurement matters by Margaret Thatcher when she "saved the mile and the pint for Britain" in 1979. Thatcher's action precisely parallels that of Napoleon inasmuch that she made the mile and the pint legal for quite restricted and specific uses (for roads only and in pubs only) while she quietly and discreetly maintained the UK's legal metric system definition of the mile and the pint. Perhaps this is Say's insight -- keep politicians out of measurement matters -- and let "mathematical principles" apply. My own view is that the "mathematical principles" encapsulated in the science of metrology are profoundly important to invent, to develop, and to maintain the metric system of measurement. However, it is also important to consider how the use of this highly developed metric system might be encouraged so that it is used on a daily basis by citizens who do not share the metrologists insight and understanding of the metric system as a whole. In short, I believe that "Metrication matters" where metrication means the knowledge of how to apply the metric system to the real world in the kitchen, in the office, in the factory, and on the road. By the way, as you appear to be exploring economic issues, I can highly recommend a book called, "23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism". The Amazon reference at http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Dont-About-Capitalism/dp/1608191664 will give you access to reviews. Despite its title this is not a socialist text; it is rather a critique of capitalism as currently accepted with suggestions on how capitalism might be improved. Cheers, Pat Naughtin LCAMS 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.
