28 May
2010
28 May
'10
8:07 a.m.
On 28 May 2010 at 9:02, Liam Proven wrote:
How anyone can love Imperial measurements is beyond
me. I am 42 and
grew up with the tail-end of them and I hate them with a burning
passion. Give me metric any day, where 1 litre in the USA is the same
as 1 litre anywhere and 1 litre of water masses 1kg anywhere on the
planet or indeed off it (at least unless it is travelling very quickly
indeed).
This from someone who lives in a country where body weight is still
quoted in stone; horse stature in hands--and I still hear announcers
on the Beeb referring to distances in miles. I'm sure other examples
abound. So I take any UK-related claims of the metric system being
wonderful with a crannock of salt.
While I'm equally comfortable in Imperial or SI units for most
things, I find that the imperial units have a better relation to the
human scale. The measurement of a thumb is a case in point; a yard
is about the distance between the tip of my thumb and my nose, as is
the length of my stride. A foot is a unit not enjoyed by the metrics-
-you get your choice between a meter (too big) and the ridiculously
small centimeter--even a decimeter is too small. The height of a
ceiling or the spacing between rails on a railroad is conveniently
expressed in whole feet. A very warm day is 100 degrees; the same
reflects that I'm running a slight fever (apparently Fahrenheit was
when he set the 100 degree point). 0 degrees is a very cold day and
the temperature of my home freezer.
"Man is the measure of all things" - Pr?tagoras of Abdera
--and not some erroneous measurement of the earth's meridian. With
the Imperial system, I feel a kinship with centuries of history
dating back to the ancient Romans rather than some idealistic 18th-
century French revolutionaries who couldn't quite get their
measurements right.
--Chuck