Re: OT - Metrication

Stephen wrote:
> According to the opalescent prose of BrritSki <BrritSki@xxxxxxxxx> :
>
>> <languid wave> Amazing how in France you can still by things in
>> pounds in the markets, here they have a measure "etti" (sp?) which
>> is 100 gms, which is about 1/4 of a lb. Pounds, pints, inches -
>> they're all just natural measures...
>
> I do rather wonder about this intervals and "natural measures"
> business.
>
> Does it really matter whether we have a new named unit at various
> stages? I know what 100 metres looks like, so if somebody says "400
> metres" I can imagine 4 100 metre bits laid end to end. I don't need
> to worry about "hectameters".
>
> And why is a pound more "natural" than a kilogram, or a pint than a
> litre? Surely it's just a matter of familiarity. The French "livre"
> is 10% bigger than a british "pound" (avoirdupois) - is it 10% more
> natural or less natural? A "natural" unit like the hand is only
> defined in inches by convention (the inch was originally the length of
> three grains of barley - is that "natural"?). A 10cm hand is as
> natural as a 4 inch one, surely? What practical benefit is there in a
> unit of area that is defined by reference to a 20 x 1 rectangle?
>
> The idea that the imperial *system* is "natural" just doesn't hold
> water, and the ridiculous progressions (how many gallons in a
> hogshead?) seem to me to make it much less useful than the infinitely
> scalable and internally consistent metric system.

I'd have to agree with that. I may be a monoglot but I am fluent in both
metric and imperial. Which I use depends on the measuring equipment
available and who I'm making the measurement for.

IMO the only scale whihc has a genuine claim to me moer 'natural' than the
ohters is the Kelvin scale. But I still can't imagine myself thinking "brrr"
if the weatherman tells me it's going to 268 tonight.

--

SB


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