Jim Palfreyman wrote:
Sheez - I'm so glad we have metric!!
Can I ask you US dudes a question?
Do you know, without looking it up, what an acre is?
It's such a commonly used term for measuring large areas, but I bet
most don't know what it actually is. I only know because of Pink
Floyd.
We use a hectare which is 100mx100m. Very easy to visualise, work with
and convert.
Jim Palfreyman
Jim,
I learn and unlearn that unit all the time. It's 1 x 10 chains (22 x 220 yards),
or 1/640 of a square mile. The square mile definition sticks in my brain better
than the other involving chains, of course. I read up on the chain thing just a
couple days ago, which is the only reason I can remember it today.
Neither of those are the least bit obvious, but they've been in use for hundreds
of years, so it's hard to write them out of every survey report ever done.
I wish O I wish that it made more sense, but life is how it is. The rugged
individualists that settled the USA seem bent on preserving the nonsensical
units that their forefathers struggled with. I know not why.
All I can say is that my kids use centimeters in everyday conversation, and I'm
mighty glad of that.
--David Forbes, Tucson, Free Republic of Arizona
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