You are confusing the author of the book with the author of the book review. David Owen (the author of the book review.)
> > > 2002-10-14 > > Taken from paragraph 4 of: > http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?021014crbo_books1, he states with > his own words that he sides with "the pounds & ounce" crowd. Anyone who > would spend the effort to write a book and tells you that the original > survey of the Meridienne Verte produced an error and then go on to say FFU > is more "human" friendly then SI, can not be pro-metric. > > His book was written to appear unbiased but it was meant to be a Bible for > the anti-metric crowd. > > Like most unmetricated Americans, I suspect, I've usually sided with the > pounds-and-ounces crowd in such disputes. I know that Olympic events are > measured in metres, and that dietary fat and cocaine are both reckoned by > the gram, but for a long time I vaguely assumed that the metric > system was a > bust. I also assumed that the metre was a modern invention, and that the > world's interest in it must have crested in the early seventies, when I > studied it in school. (The relevant chapter in our math book was called > something like "Oh, No! The Metric System!") > > John > >
