Posted on 09/11/2007 4:59:59 AM PDT by oblomov
The European Union is set to confirm it has abandoned what became one of its most unpopular policies among many people in Britain. It is proposing to allow the UK to continue using pounds, miles and pints as units of measurement indefinitely.
The European Commission will announce later it is leaving all future decisions to the British government.
The decision is being seen as a victory for supporters of the ancient imperial system, the so-called "metric martyrs".
Pint saved
The UK had been due to set a date for phasing out all its imperial measurements within three years.
This would have meant setting a deadline for ending the traditional delivery of pints of milk - and the sale of pints of beer in Britain's pubs.
Every one of Britain's road signs would have had to be changed from miles to kilometres - a move which opponents warned would be both expensive and confusing.
Steve Thoburn made headlines around the world over his campaign
But it was the move, begun in 2000, to make Britain's market traders sell their produce in kilograms rather than pounds and ounces which caused outrage among traditionalists.
Sunderland grocer Steve Thoburn inspired the "metric martyr" movement with his defiance of the order to abandon the imperial measurements.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
That sounds fishy to me. It implies a very precise measure of the size of the earth being available in the very ancient world, something which we have no evidence of (that I'm aware of).
I am sorry you have had such problems with carpenters. Most of the carpenters I know are salt-of-the-Earth types, and real craftsmen.
Has it occured to you, BTW, that most of those non-English speaking carpenters you malign were brought up learning the Metric system? Is it any wonder they can’t do a decent job?
1 P"= 1.001", if one measures the Great Pyramid in P" all sorts of interesting numbers fall out.
Source: Testimony in Stone, by J. Bernard Nicklin.
As to what the ancients knew? Eratosthenes did a pretty accurate calculation of the earth's diameter in ca 200 BC. The people who built the pyramid surely had better measurement equipment than he did.
10,000,000 sacred cubits...
I will grant that cabinet making is different from throwing together houses using illegal-alien labor.
That said, I do not see why it should matter whether you measure and cut in inches or in centimeters. Or, for that matter, in decimal inches. The length is the same, whether you call it 2-3/16", 2.188 inches, or 5.556 cm.
Of course, your plans and tools may employ a particular system of units, in which case life is easier if you use that system in your work. But otherwise there seems to be no intrinsic reason to prefer one system over another for the woodworking.
Bakers yes. They weigh the dry goods, but measure the wet stuff. Chefs typically don't though because it is much faster and easier to simply measure.
That said, I would question your statement that the metric system does not adapt well to cooking. Why not?
Cooking is based on proportions and to a large extent on egg size : ) The cup, teaspoon and tablespoon are basically human sized portions where everything has been worked out. Fractions are simply easier to work with than decimals when it comes to cooking.
Why do you think eggs come in a dozen? It is easy to get the fractions out of a dozen eggs. It is hard to get the fractions out of 10 eggs. I can get 1/3, 3/4, etc. out of a dozen eggs but I can't get them out of ten (all I can get is half or tenths). The metric system simply isn't efficient when it comes to cooking.
Although, buying Plastic Wood in convenient 55 gallon drums can also help out a lot.
Metric units are supposed to “tie down” to natural constants, such as a liter of water weighing a kilogram.
What’s the natural component of a meter? I like both systems - metric for volume, English for distance. The marketplace is slowly adapting to both, as well. No one objects to a 2-liter bottle of soda in the US, for instance.
Everything has been worked out in the metric system too, so it should not matter.
By the way, when you refer to the cup, teaspoon, and tablespoon, which ones do you have in mind? The units vary in size from one country to another.
Fractions are simply easier to work with than decimals when it comes to cooking.
I doubt it matters much either way. Most volume measurements in cooking are approximate, and complicated calculations are rarely needed. You can talk about a quarter liter if you prefer fractions, or 250 mL if you don't; it is the same volume.
Why do you think eggs come in a dozen? It is easy to get the fractions out of a dozen eggs. It is hard to get the fractions out of 10 eggs. I can get 1/3, 3/4, etc. out of a dozen eggs but I can't get them out of ten (all I can get is half or tenths).
Yes, as I previously wrote, dozens are good for counting, because 12 is evenly divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. Objects are counted the same way whether you use SI, Imperial, or U.S. customary units.
But counting is not the same as measuring.
The metric system simply isn't efficient when it comes to cooking.
I suppose that depends on who is doing the cooking. Someone who is used to the metric system would undoubtedly find the Imperial or U. S. customary systems to be inefficient.
Apparently, the folks in France have to make a "new" kilogram.
Every metric measurement has been redefined over the years in terms of some constant physical property of the universe except for the kilogram. The kilogram is still the same old lump of metal (or clay or whatever it was) that has been sitting in that museum for over a century. Well, over time, it has eroded. THE kilogram (against which all other kilograms are measured) has lost 50 micrograms over the last century. So they are making a pair of new kilograms to last forever. (The second is a backup.)
The BBC has a set of quizzes about Imperial and metric (seems to be skewed toward metric), and there is a lot of disparity between American units and their British counterparts.
Though for many bakers, they use weight instead of volume when baking (so they could easily use a metric scale).
My daughter was in Jr. High in the late 90’s.
One of her class projects was called ‘Metric is Magic’.
Her class translated recipes from traditional to metric.
It came out something like..
252 ml of oil
357 ml of water
17 cc of salt
and so on.
I just smiled and kept my mouth shut. :^)
Late 90’s should read late 70’s.
How many hours would they have prefered to have in a day?
I thought that 1 l of pure water was supposed to have mass of 1 kg (to be precise, weight is measured in newtons, not kilograms)? And that 1 l of water has volume of 1000 cm^3?
what is the islamic system of measurement?
Heads.
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