It's a pity the US stations are not as courteous in providing Celsius. If they could only include Celsius nationwide, it would take no time for everyone to appreciate it. Most people in the TV weather business talk in very broad terms of 50's, 60's, etc. Elsewhere it's the exact high or low they expect in Celsius. Honeywell even put out some information years ago saying the most difference humans could discern was 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit, which is exactly 1 degree Celsius.
As for plumbing, I don't know if it's a standard in Germany, was it in the military where you saw this? US pipe sizes are very nominal. I needed some pipe recently to force a bearing off a 40 mm diameter shaft, knowing how "nominal" pipe sizes are I went to my local home depot. The first 1,5 inch size was 38 mm which is correct, another batch of the same nominal dimension was 41 mm (on the inside), perfect for my job so I bought some. I've found many supposed fractional inch dimensions are actually something else, somewhat akin to a 2 x 4 not being 2 inches by 4 inches. In fact they seem to get smaller and smaller all the time. Mike Payne On 28/11/2012, at 12:00 , "D Gmail" <[email protected]> wrote: > I read with interest Mr. Scheck’s recent article, particularly the internal > angst that occurs in those that feel they must compromise their metric > identity to prosper. > > As a South Coast resident, South Coast of Lake Superior that is, I often > enjoy listening to Canadian radio where the vast majority of weather reports > come in Celsius, which you would expect. However as a custom or courtesy, > the announcers provide the last current temperature in both Celsius and > Fahrenheit, presumably for their South of the border listeners. > My brain will never wrap itself around the conversion, probably because I > have no interest in challenging my mental inertia. That said and with tongue > in cheek, I proffer a likely non-original opinion, that regarding the mundane > human observation of temperature, “Fahrenheit is more metric than > Celsius”…being 0 degrees F is real cold and 100 degrees F is real hot, and > nothing much matters beyond that unless I plan to conduct a scientific > process of sorts, like smelting copper. > > To the dismay of my wife and family, I have tried to use this point as dinner > guest conversation…need I say more….shut up you old fool is the kindest thing > they can express. > > The broader point is that scales as well as other tools such as language > developed in academia , but not adopted for daily use tend to self-limit…take > Esperanto for example. > > While logic indicates all things metric would enhance our understanding as > well as intra-cultural efficiency, my practical exposure doesn’t always > support. Living in Europe for over 10 years, I was amazed to find plumbing > sizes in inches in Germany…is it custom, or simply more efficient? > > I’d be interested in others thoughts…. > > Dave > > >
