http://www.da.wvu.edu/
The Daily Athenaeum via U-Wire
University Wire
March 23, 2005 Wednesday
SECTION: COLUMN
LENGTH: 516 words
HEADLINE: Stubborness prevents adoption of metric system
BYLINE: By Stephen Smay, The Daily Athenaeum; SOURCE: West Virginia U.
DATELINE: MORGANTOWN, W.Va.
BODY:
There aren't too many people around who know Latin. Even still, it can be learned in colleges and universities. There are even some high schools that teach the dead language. It can be useful for understanding long scientific words and for taking standardized tests, but other than that, knowing Latin is pretty much useless in society.
There is another language used in our society that many people no longer really know.
How many ounces are in a pound? How many ounces in a cup? At what temperature Fahrenheit does water boil? How many inches are in a foot? How many feet in a mile?
Most Americans probably only know the answers to three or four. I had to look one up and double checked myself on everything but inches, feet and miles. None of the answers to the above five questions are the same and the only thing they all have in common is that they can be divided by two and then divided by two again without any decimals. Now, how many grams are in a kilogram? How many milliliters in a liter? What temperature Celsius will boil water? How many centimeters in a meter? And how many meters are in a kilometer?
Here's a hint: All these answers contain a one and either two or three zeros. Hey, that seems pretty simple! Another simple thing, with the exce ption of temperature, is that every single unit can be written as a prefix (if needed) and a base unit.
Welcome to the metric system, folks. It's a way of measuring things in the world that is based on a number somewhat familiar to homo-sapiens: ten. It's the only number really needed to work around in the metric system and studies have shown that most people conveniently have exactly that many fingers. This is neither coincidence nor conspiracy - it is something that was thought out and planned.
Slowly, we're seeing more and more metric things around us. Pop (known also as "soda"), wine and hard liquor all come in metrically labeled containers. Just about all vehicles have kilometers per hour on the speedometers. The National Weather Service has transmitted all surface temperature observations in Celsius since July 1996.
Still we see gallons and ounces in our stores, miles per hour on our road signs and Fahrenheit temperatures on the evening news. The reason for this is that Americans, especially older Americans, are afraid to take on a new system. What they don't realize is how much simpler and more powerful this new system is. They don't realize that metric can be mastered as easily as counting to ten.
Learning, using and teaching our current system of measurement is sort of like knowing Latin - it is classic and shows oneself to be educated, but ultimately is useless. The time has long since passed to complete the transition to metric in our schools, on our highways and in our weather reports. The inferior patchwork English system should be left to the pages of history. In pace requiescat.
By the way, there are 16 ounces in a pound and eight in a cup. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit while books burn at 451 degrees. There are 12 inches in a foot and 5,280 feet in a mile.
(C) 2005 The Daily Athenaeum via U-WIRE
University Wire
March 23, 2005 Wednesday
SECTION: COLUMN
LENGTH: 516 words
HEADLINE: Stubborness prevents adoption of metric system
BYLINE: By Stephen Smay, The Daily Athenaeum; SOURCE: West Virginia U.
DATELINE: MORGANTOWN, W.Va.
BODY:
There aren't too many people around who know Latin. Even still, it can be learned in colleges and universities. There are even some high schools that teach the dead language. It can be useful for understanding long scientific words and for taking standardized tests, but other than that, knowing Latin is pretty much useless in society.
There is another language used in our society that many people no longer really know.
How many ounces are in a pound? How many ounces in a cup? At what temperature Fahrenheit does water boil? How many inches are in a foot? How many feet in a mile?
Most Americans probably only know the answers to three or four. I had to look one up and double checked myself on everything but inches, feet and miles. None of the answers to the above five questions are the same and the only thing they all have in common is that they can be divided by two and then divided by two again without any decimals. Now, how many grams are in a kilogram? How many milliliters in a liter? What temperature Celsius will boil water? How many centimeters in a meter? And how many meters are in a kilometer?
Here's a hint: All these answers contain a one and either two or three zeros. Hey, that seems pretty simple! Another simple thing, with the exce ption of temperature, is that every single unit can be written as a prefix (if needed) and a base unit.
Welcome to the metric system, folks. It's a way of measuring things in the world that is based on a number somewhat familiar to homo-sapiens: ten. It's the only number really needed to work around in the metric system and studies have shown that most people conveniently have exactly that many fingers. This is neither coincidence nor conspiracy - it is something that was thought out and planned.
Slowly, we're seeing more and more metric things around us. Pop (known also as "soda"), wine and hard liquor all come in metrically labeled containers. Just about all vehicles have kilometers per hour on the speedometers. The National Weather Service has transmitted all surface temperature observations in Celsius since July 1996.
Still we see gallons and ounces in our stores, miles per hour on our road signs and Fahrenheit temperatures on the evening news. The reason for this is that Americans, especially older Americans, are afraid to take on a new system. What they don't realize is how much simpler and more powerful this new system is. They don't realize that metric can be mastered as easily as counting to ten.
Learning, using and teaching our current system of measurement is sort of like knowing Latin - it is classic and shows oneself to be educated, but ultimately is useless. The time has long since passed to complete the transition to metric in our schools, on our highways and in our weather reports. The inferior patchwork English system should be left to the pages of history. In pace requiescat.
By the way, there are 16 ounces in a pound and eight in a cup. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit while books burn at 451 degrees. There are 12 inches in a foot and 5,280 feet in a mile.
(C) 2005 The Daily Athenaeum via U-WIRE
