At the level of a consumer worried about net contents, a book would be silly.
However, for anyone taking a course in chemistry, physics, or even general science, some specific training in SI would be well worthwhile, and the SI Brochure would be one way to do it. In Imperial, there is no book by which one can learn about either slugs or poundals (but not both, that's confusing) so F can equal m*a, degrees Rankine to learn about absolute temperature, horsepower (from force and velocity), how to fit concepts of mechanical energy and power to electrical energy and power, given no Imperial electrical units, the lack of units for measuring light, how to relate thermal energy (BTU) to mechical energy, etc. Or how about those pound-moles. For that matter, without a book and an authoritative body, who determines the ratio between inch, foot, yard, rod, chain, furlong, mile. Who decides how big a gallon is (or that the US uses a different size). Of course, it is a stunted system. No one is in charge, so it has to be bound by traditional definitions, and with no one in charge, it can not adapt to new measurment needs, like electricity. (or one that is a safety concern, ionizing radiation) Please note, I am broadly lumping Customary and Imperial together in this criticism. ________________________________ From: Stephen Humphreys <barkatf...@hotmail.com> To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Sun, June 13, 2010 4:44:51 PM Subject: [USMA:47777] RE: SI *it* User Friendly I agree (partially). My point was not to refer too much to manuals etc when pushing metric (some - well 1 or 2 - have used it as a reason against imperial - which those 1 or 2 people have poked fun at imperial for not having a book - a point of which is counter productive in the 'user friendly' department) > From: mech...@illinois.edu > Subject: SI *it* User Friendly > To: barkatf...@hotmail.com; usma@colostate.edu > Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2010 10:02:53 -0500 > > The point you miss here, Stephen, is the fact that SI is already 'user > friendly' for all people from childhood through senior citizenship in *most* > countries. > > The BIPM Brochure sets the standard. It is not intended to be a first reader > for children in elementary school. > > ---- Original message ---- > >Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2010 18:45:48 +0000 > >From: Stephen Humphreys <barkatf...@hotmail.com> > >Subject: [USMA:47745] RE: Are metric speed limit and/or distance signs > >permitted by US Federal law or regulation? > >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu> > > > > And with concurring respect - I don't intend to > > learn how to be a metric expert or scholar. You > > need to realise quite how many people will/have read > > that manual in their life (in % value). > > You should be concentrating on making metric > > 'user-friendly' rather than suggesting that a > > reference manual is handy when undertaking > > measurement tasks. Again, this is advice (from MHO) > > rather than me 'knocking' you. > > > > ------------------------------------------------ > > > > From: vliets...@btinternet.com > > To: barkatf...@hotmail.com; usma@colostate.edu > > Subject: RE: [USMA:47726] RE: Are metric speed limit > > and/or distance signs permitted by US Federal law or > > regulation? > > Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:07:06 +0100 > > > > Steve, > > > > > > > > With due respect to all the contributors to this > > discussion, the SI Manual is structured in its > > approach. > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------- > > > > From: owner-u...@colostate.edu > > [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of > > Stephen Humphreys > > Sent: 11 June 2010 23:16 > > To: U.S. Metric Association > > Subject: [USMA:47726] RE: Are metric speed limit > > and/or distance signs permitted by US Federal law or > > regulation? > > > > > > > > Why I 'learn' enough here! ;-) > > > > > > > > (ahem) > > > > > From: vliets...@btinternet.com > > > To: usma@colostate.edu > > > Subject: [USMA:47723] RE: Are metric speed limit > > and/or distance signs permitted by US Federal law or > > regulation? > > > Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:02:26 +0100 > > > > > > > > > Steve, why don't you visit www.bipm.org and follow > > the links to the SI > > > brochure - you might learn something. > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: owner-u...@colostate.edu > > [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf > > > Of mech...@illinois.edu > > > Sent: 11 June 2010 20:53 > > > To: U.S. Metric Association > > > Subject: [USMA:47721] RE: Are metric speed limit > > and/or distance signs > > > permitted by US Federal law or regulation? > > > > > > > > > Stephen, > > > > > > The unit "hour" is approved for use with SI (See > > the BIPM Brochure, Table 6)... ________________________________ Get a free e-mail account with Hotmail. Sign-up now.
