One of the Luddite commentators on the article about the Fahrenheit thermometer is a certain 'Bobcat'. He makes the absurd claim that (Imperial (and USC) are based on the duodecimal system. The only factors involving 12 are 1 foot = 12 inches and 1 troy pound = is 12 troy ounces. Most of these units have binary factors. Try to divide two of the basic units of Imperial, the gallon and the pound avoirdupois, by 3! Try to divide the mile or the long ton by 3! If we were ever to trade in decimal for duodecimal, it would be very, very costly indeed, and that just because 10 cannot be divided by 3. And many 'Imperialists' suffer under the delusion that if we did that, metric would perish (as it would) and Imperial would reign triumphant. It would be a rude shock for them that Imperial would be doomed as well. An entirely new system of units would be built, based on numbers like 1 - 9, Y, Z, 10.
Han
