Here is the response I got from The Nature of Things regarding the use of metric on their program.
-- Ezra ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "Vance Chow" <vance.c...@cbc.ca> To: "ezra steinberg" <ezra.steinb...@comcast.net> Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 7:54:42 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: Re: Guidelines or Requirements on Units of Measure for the Nature ofThings Dear Mr. Steinberg, Thanks for your msg and interest in The Nature of Things. Currently, all of Dr. Suzuki's narrations are done in metric, as that is the standard here in Canada. However in the past, it may very well have occurred that specific shows produced in partnership with independent companies may have been done in Imperial. Dr. Suzuki has now been the host of The Nature of Things for 30 years, so there has been quite a large array of different programming over the course of that time. All I can tell you is that as of the moment, our current protocols are to use metric. Hope that helps. Thanks again for your interest, and best wishes. Vance Chow Researcher - The Nature of Things Science & Natural History Unit CBC Television (416) 205-6892 vance.c...@cbc.ca www.cbc.ca/natureofthings >>> ezra.steinb...@comcast.net> 3/14/2010 4:40 PM >> Dear Mr. Chow: I was watching The Nature of Things for the first time today here where I live in the Seattle WA area (via Comcast cable) and I enjoyed the show very much. Today's topic was the use of alternative sources of energy production for electricity and it was most informative and revealing. The one thing that surprised me was Mr. Suzuki's use of old Imperial units, such as "miles" and "acres". I was also surprised that he did not convert the temperature at one of the power plants given by the American plant engineer from degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius. Does The Nature of Things have any guidelines or requirements for the use of metric units in the narration of the show? If so, can you share them with me? Also, do you have any idea why in this particular show Mr. Suzuki might have chosen to use Imperial units? (I am told by a viewer familiar with the show in the past that he recalled hearing Mr. Suzuki use metric units rather consistently.) Thank you in advance for your assistance in clearing this question up for me. Best regards, Ezra Steinberg Technical Writer Google, Inc. (speaking for myself only and not my employer) Kirkland, Washington USA
