Re: OT - Metrication

In article <4389d2e9.3669302@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Stephen
stephenbowden@xxxxxxxxx wibbled...

> 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,

You must be one of the few then :-)
I have absolutely no idea what 100 metres looks like!
I only know how big 1.60 metres is because I know it equates to my
height, but it's not the measurement I use if anyone asks.

> 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"?).

Well, it also incidentally matches roughly with the length of the first
joint of the thumb - so it's easy to use and visualise when you have no
other measuring instruments around :-)

> 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.

Both systems are scalable... it's just one is "easier" to play with
the numbers than the other as it doesn't require you to know anything
higher than your 10x tables ;-P
(Insert here standard rant about how standards in schools have slipped
in mathematics since this happened <g>.)

Now, here's the real test question - what length measurement do _you_
give for a cricket pitch?

Suzi
.

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