I give my height as either 183 cm or 1.83 m. Like you, I would never dream of giving it in millimeters.
Bill ________________________________ Bill Potts Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Wade Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 07:12 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:40556] Re: usage of measures for body mass and height > For practical reference, it's easy to remember that 1 m (meter) is > equivalent to 1000 mm (millimeter). As a result, one can practicably > express height in terms of either meter or millimeter. Except that millimeters are particularly unsuited to measuring people's height. They imply far too high a level of precision (people's effective height would vary according to stance, how many hours they have been standing upright, or even whether it has rained on their hair). The most suitable units for this are centimeters. I realize that many people on this list have a prejudice against centimeters, and I fully acknowledge that millimeters are the appropriate unit to use in engineering, architecture, machining, DIY jobs - in fact the vast majority of industrial and mechanical applications. But for people's height, millimeters are too precise, and also the typical height of adults would result in a four digit figure. You might say, why not use meters to two decimal places ? I would be quite happy with this, but only because it is a form of "hidden centimeters". I quote my height as "one seventy three" which can be equally understood as either 1.73 m or 173 cm. But one of the arguments in favor of using millimeters in many applications is that it provides for whole numbers without the need to use decimals (or even worse, fractions). For this excellent reason engineering dimensions are normally quoted in integral millimeters rather than meters to decimal places. Applying the same logic, centimeters should be preferred over meters for height. --------------------------------------------------------- Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie EuroKom | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 A2, Nutgrove Office Park | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 Rathfarnham | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Dublin 14 | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !" Ireland
