Well, Frank, the Brits did it! They switched to metric in 1965, and never
looked back! Why did they do it? Well, simply because their industry
needed to import from and export to Europe.
So, you're right, as long as America ain't "broke" (pun intended), no need
to start fixing... ; - )
Serge
Frank Ross <alamo...@yahoo.com>
Envoyé par : krnet-bounces+serge.vidal=sagem....@mylist.net
14/01/2006 16:47
Veuillez répondre à KRnet
Remis le : 14/01/2006 16:47
Pour : KRnet <kr...@mylist.net>
cc : (ccc : Serge VIDAL/DNSA/SAGEM)
Objet : Re: KR> "Mil" as in MILIMETERS off topic
Thanks Serge, I'll try to be more careful about my
spelling. :=]
For sixty-five years I thought I was speaking English;
then I came to England...
All too true, Serge, it's just that as an American
living in England the last two years, I realized the
English and Australians (and probably New Zealanders
as well) use the word "mil" when they are talking
about millimeters and most Americans wouldn't know
this.
I think the metric system is a wonderful thing, but I
have a house full of tools, measuring devices,
cookbooks, etc., that I'd have to throw out to switch
over. Is it worth it? All the traffic signs in the US
(and maybe someplace else in the world, but I think we
are the only ones left using this wonderful, but
archaic system) would have to be discarded and
replaced, billions of dollars. Is is worth it? And, we
now have the confusion of people converting not only
from Knots to MPH but kilometers as well, for what
purpose? Then there's the altitude in meters when so
much of our existing equipment is still in feet. Will
it stop? Not until everything new is metric and
everyone is ready to throw away everything they are
using.
I know it'll change someday, but I still say "If it
ain't broke, why fix it?"
Cheers,
Frank
--- Serge VIDAL <serge.vi...@sagem.com> wrote:
> All the more so that "millimeter" can be abbreviated
> only one way, and
> that's "mm". Moreover, "millimeter" is spelled with
> two "l".
>
> You see, the Metric system was designed in the 18th
> century by the same
> chaps that inspired the American constitution: the
> Encyclopaedists.These
> guys had a good sense of organization, and they made
> the entire system
> confusion-proof and absolutely consistent. Think of
> that: they wanted the
> absolute reference from which all other measures are
> derived (the meter)
> to come from something also absolute. They thought
> Planet Earth would be
> good enough as a reference. So, they started by
> measuring... the Earth's
> circumference (meridien) (an ambitious feat at that
> time!), and they
> divided it to get a practical, "yard-size" measure.
> So, at that time, the
> meter was "the ten-millionth part of the quarter of
> the Earth's meridian".
>
> The amazing thing is their measurement of the Earth
> came right by a
> handful of miles.
>
> These guys were so obsessed with invention and
> precision, they would have
> deserved to become KR builders!
>
> Serge Vidal
> KR2 "Kilimanjaro Cloud"
> Paris, France
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