Comments on: Those Annoying Imperial Units!

By: Ted

Ted — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:53:58 +0000

Worthy cause, keep going.
Worthy cause, keep going.

By: HM

HM — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 01:13:15 +0000

Right after WWII when the US
Right after WWII when the US was the world power; calling the shots there was a world conference on measurement standerds.The congressmen partied all night and didn't make most of the meetings.that is why the problem.3/64"and 20thousands is more accrate or si units

By: Tim H

Tim H — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:06:48 +0000

This coming from a country
This coming from a country that uses both metric and imperial. Speed limits are still MPH and distances in miles. And the last time I ordered a Guiness in the UK, it was a pint, not a liter.

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:09:39 +0000

Here in Canada we officially
Here in Canada we officially switched to metric several years ago along with everyone else but the U.S.. Most tradesmen however still use the imperial system and our supermarkets post both prices usually with the Imperial in the larger print. It looks as if a total switch is going to take us a lifetime or two. I have also noticed that the U.S is making the switch in many areas without it being official. Possibly the border influences of Mexico and Canada. Don't sweat it Alison, it will happen but not likely in your lifetime or mine.

By: John Poole

John Poole — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:14:33 +0000

Actually, if I may indulge
Actually, if I may indulge myself for a moment here...

The calendar most of us use on a daily basis is actually a pretty interesting (and arbitrarily complicated) computational structure. It's a hierarchy of several very diverse, and rather arbitrarily fitted-together, units.

At the top levels of the hierarchy, you've got the Gregorian metrics of years, months, 24-hour days, and the somewhat arbitrary rules for relating/combining those.

Then, you have those base-60 divisions of hours into minutes, and minutes into seconds.

Then, at the lowest levels of the hierarchy, we finally employ the metric system, with 10ths of seconds, 100ths of seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, etc.

And we express a precise moment in time using a single value of, not one unit, of course, but several combined; for example

09.25.1960.16:15:23.9

while usually not even respecting the relative order of the hierarchy at the highest level. (BFD that the Brits pride themselves on writing the day of the month first..the order is still wrong, from a hierarchical perspective).

So, if time, as a dimension, is so critical to science (every bit as critical as lineal or volumetric measurements), why aren't scientific and technically-minded folks freaked out by any of this?

I suppose it's because in typical use, one usually works with just one or several adjacent levels of the time hierarchy, without being required to convert (or aggregate, or allocate), values up or down this rather quirky hierarchy.

Just some food for thought from one of the resident contrarians... :-D

- John

By: Skye Dunning

Skye Dunning — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:02:12 +0000

When I was in 3rd grade they
When I was in 3rd grade they told us we all had to learn the metric system because the US was about to switch.

Thing is, we already use it. It's called money.

By: John Poole

John Poole — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:25:07 +0000

Why didn't you hold off on
Why didn't you hold off on posting this for just 9 more days and made it a Valentines Day sequel to last year's metric system post? My, has it been a whole year...where does the time go, and why isn't anyone bent out of shape by the fact we're not using a decimal calendar? :-D

"Release the Kraken!"

By: Steve Larson

Steve Larson — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:02:54 +0000

Good luck with that, Allison.
Good luck with that, Allison. I have been wondering why I need two sets of wrenches for 40 years. And having to clarify F or C when writing to friends in Europe is not a huge hassle, but making the conversion sure is. Give it time, maybe when we are both dead & gone, someone will finally get it, but I doubt it. But thanks for trying.

By: Bill Smith

Bill Smith — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:58:45 +0000

I wholeheartedly agree that
I wholeheartedly agree that we should make the switch (it will only hurt for a minute!).

But I would remind those Brits that we got those units from them ;-)

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:56:53 +0000

Good luck, but I don't see it
Good luck, but I don't see it happening. The cooking world would be turned on it's head. Things like cups, fl oz, quarts, pints, gallons would no longer need complex math formulas to convert. Everything would be in ML. Hospitals already "get it" and use metric system, as do most scientists.