on 2005-03-15 07.38, Philip S Hall at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: <snip > > Metric is a coherent system purposely designed to be so. Other measures are > not, they have become what they are because they have descended from > disparate applications where they were invented for specific purposes (often > no longer relevent) and subject to regional variations. Hence they are > characterised by a patchwork quilt of unit size ratios after belated > attempts to rationalise them. > > People are not purposely choosing them in preference to metric they are > simply reacting to the environment in which they live and were brought up in > and the continued need to engage them because they persist and haven't > experienced an all metric world where they can see it working properly. > > This is why it's so important not to try and mix metric with non-metric, > they are incompatible and the advantages of metric are not properly > realised. The advancement that the development of the SI represents marks an > improvement in the way we measure and should not be made to co-exist > indefinitely with old measures that are no longer needed. > > In the end it doesn't compare with other technological issues like digital > versus analogue, where the advantages don't depend on universal use and > education before they can be seen. Their impact is immediate and market > forces do the job of natural selection for them. > Dear Phil,
Well said. You have identified the nub of the difference between metrication programs and metric conversions. To me these are quite different things. Some years ago, I noticed that there were efficient, smooth, and rapid metric transitions and there were inefficient, bitter, and painfully slow metric conversions. At that time, I identified one of the common elements in the fast transitions as the use of millimetres rather than centimetres but it took me a long time to identify the other main reasons for this difference. I think now that planning for an efficient, smooth, and fast metric transition would include: 1 Choose units for your business in such a way that you remove fractions from your work altogether. This means vulgar fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/5, etc) and decimal fractions (0.1, 0.12, 0.123, etc). If you are wiring a piano, you would choose to use micrometres rather than the hodge-podge of gauge numbers on offer. If you are a carpenter, you will mostly work in millimetres with occasional use of (whole) metres � you will not use centimetres. (Note: This is the technique used by the Australian building industry when they successfully changed to metric units in less than a year.) 2 Develop 'Rules of Thumb' and reference measures before you publicly begin your metric transition. For example, if you wish to manage a temperature transition is a hospital, you might place posters that say: 37 �C Normal body temperature. 38 �C Low fever. 39 �C High fever. 40 �C Dangerously high fever. Seek emergency medical treatment immediately! Or if you wanted to change the recording of baby mass your poster might read. 2.5 kilograms Small baby 3.5 kilograms Average baby 4.5 kilograms Big baby 3 Avoid metric conversions at all times. Beware of hidden conversion charts in desk drawers, inside locker doors, and pasted to the underside of shelves as these can delay a smooth metric transition for years. I once found a box in a textile mill where a weaver had collected every conversion chart that they could find (over a hundred pages) to avoid changing their mindset from the miscellany of old measures (thirty or more) to milligrams per metre or grams per kilometre Cheers, Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)* PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia Phone 61 3 5241 2008 Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com and clicking on 'Newsletter'. * Pat is the editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' chapter of the Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual � for writers, editors and printers', he is an Accredited Speaking Member (ASM) with the National Speakers Association of Australia, and a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender by return email.
