Yes, as you know, I'm aware of those Americans who proposed the metric
system. Many Americans, however, are not. We just need to keep
publicizing that, don't we.
Jim
Pat Naughtin wrote:
On 2008/03/16, at 3:53 AM, James Frysinger wrote:
I have come across a bit of writing by Ferdinand Hassler that is
intriguing. Though this pertains to the survey of the east coast of
the U.S. being "suspended" in part due to Hassler's foreign origins,
it applies well I think to the issue of the metric system being a
"foreign" thing.
[quote]
The nation that shall exclude from itself the admission and use of
foreign talents and knowledge, must always remain behind in the paths
of civilization, and will appear comparatively barbarous, if not
really become so. Sciences, arts, and ideas for improvements, are the
common property of all nations--their mutual ties--and cannot be
successfully cultivated without free intercourse, exchange, and
intermixture... Every civilized nation of Europe has contributed its
share to that happy mixture of knowledge and ideas of improvements,
that has caused the character of this country to rise to so high a
standing.
[end quote]
Ferdinand R. Hassler
in a letter of 1827 January 08
subsequently published in the New York American
Dear Jim,
Many thanks for that quote from Ferdinand R. Hassler. I have included it
in the '/Metrication timeline/'
at http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/MetricationTimeline.pdf and I
may include it in a future edition of the Metrication matters newsletter.
With reference to the idea that the metric system is a '/foreign'
development/', two issues should be considered:
1 The idea for a /universal measure/ came from Bishop John Wilkins in
London in 1668. The metric system was invented in the English language
as part of the good bishop's desire to return our language, including
our measuring language and methods, to those used in the Garden of Eden
before 'The Fall'. He was motivated by providing honesty in measurement.
See the three Wilkins articles near the top of this
page: http://www.MetricationMatters.com/articles.html for detailed
information or go
to http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/15/1978802.htm to see a
news report.
2 The fact that we have a '/decimal/' metric system is due in no small
part to the activities of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and to a
lesser degree, Benjamin Franklin.
See: http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/MetricationTimeline.pdf for
details by searching for Franklin, Jefferson, and Washington.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped
thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern
metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save
thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their
businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different
trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and
government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's
clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the
metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA.
See http://www.metricationmatters.com/
<http://www.metricationmatters.com/>for more metrication information,
contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or to get the free
'/Metrication matters/' newsletter go to:
http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/ to subscribe.
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(H) 931.657.3107
(C) 931.212.0267
