I will be neutral about proposals to decimalize time. There have been several proposals in the past. But changing the length of the meter just to arrive at a Nautical Kilometer is a definite no-no. A change in the units of length and time in SI will be a real boon to the BWMA, F2M, ACWM, Inch Perfect et al, it will be very disruptive as it will change the value of many other SI units and therefore it will be very costly. If we used the GPS system to its full potential we should not need any special nautical units. The nautical mile is just a tradition, totally expendable. In the eighteenth century the ' nautical' mile used by the British Navy was the land league of 3 statute miles! Bligh and the others who had been put out to sea in a small boat covered a distance of 1200 'nautical miles', in fact 3600 statute miles. This information I found in the book Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. Shipping and aircraft navigation could be metric today as GPS is metric. However, it contains conversion software to ifp for the benefits of those who erroneously think they need things like nautical miles, etc. How far people will go to save traditions!
Han Historian of Dutch Metrication, The Netherlands ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ma Be" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, 2002-06-04 21:31 Subject: [USMA:20336] Re: Decimalisation of Time of the HOUR/DAY ? I'm sorry, but I cannot in sane conscience support this proposal AT ALL!!! Change the meter to some 89.9% of its present size? Why? What for? Change the time system to 24-100-100? Again, why in the world would one want that? The main idea would be to get rid of ANY other "factor", except decimal ones. I'd still stick with the 100-1000 proposal for time and NOT change the meter in any way. Marcus On Tue, 4 Jun 2002 14:15:35 BB VIJ wrote: May I introduce as a new member to 'metrics' in America:who has extensively work to promote the cause of Time decimalisation since 1970-71. Attached along is a file containing some ideas to ponder over and expect you valued opinion. Your constructive views are welcome. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
