13 Dec
2004
13 Dec
'04
2:42 p.m.
On Mon, 13 Dec 2004, Dwight K. Elvey wrote:
I agree with you, 10 is no more, and actually less, magical
than say 16 (hex works well on fingers with thumbs for carry,
ad nauseum).
The *consistency* of the MKS system is why it's superior, is all.
Some of this
discussion reminds me of the "arguments" why the metric
system is inferior to the US system of measures.
Contrary to what Tom Jennings states in a later post, there
are sound physical reasons for using fractional systems
when dealing with the physical world. I'm not defending
the English system that is a hodgepodge of poorly
related measurement standards. The only reason we have
a decimal system is because of the number of fingers we
have. Hardly a sound reason to squeeze physical relations
into. One wonders why there are 2.5mm screws when the
decimal system works so well.