Re: definition of " metric" as a noun

[Neville X. Elliven]

Herman Rubin wrote:

>>>The OED cites the following use of metric as a noun:
>>>1921 Proc. R. Soc. A. XCIX. 104 "In the non-Euclidean
>>>geometry of Riemann, the metric is defined by certain quantities . . 
>
>>A good example of bad usage: *what* metric, *what* quantities?
>>The reader should not be left hanging with those questions unanswered.
>
>This is not bad usage at all.  In mathematics, the word
>"metric" as a noun refers to a general type of distance,
>not necessarily the type in common use.

It is certainly bad usage, for the following reason: the phrase,
"the metric", implies that there is *one* metric function on
Riemannian geometry, which is false. This reason has nothing
to do with distance measure in general, as commonly understood,
or otherwise.


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