Posted on 11/05/2012 2:14:59 PM PST by null and void
Back in grade school, we were told that the Imperial System was a thing of the past, that eventually we’d be living the Metric System life, with all it’s base-10 logic built right in. We’d be just like the rest of the world. But those predictions have proven about as accurate as the flying cars and moon colonies that we all imagined we’d be enjoying in the year 2012.
Occasionally, the issue bubbles up and people argue back and forth about why we haven’t gone Metric, but I think it’s all about inertia. There would be a huge intellectual cost in moving to a new system—training ourselves to think of temperatures in Celsius when we’re leaving home and trying to decide on whether to grab a jacket. Straining to remember what kilometers per liter really comes down to, when we’re used to a lifetime of miles per gallon. Attempting to determine whether you’re losing enough weight, as you stare at the scale showing a strange number of kilograms.
While there are economic costs—heck, just think of the signage issues on our roads—they should be lower today than they would have been a generation ago. Many consumer products in this digital age already allow us to toggle between Imperial and Metric units. And the prevalence of smartphones means that no one has an excuse not to have a conversion app (or at least a calculator) on them at virtually all times.
What this issue comes down to is, as I said, inertia. It’s laziness. No one wants to be the generation that has to juggle two systems in their heads all the time. If we switched today, my kids would grow up pretty much thinking in Metric and would have no problem. But I feel like I’d forever be doing that calculation in my head. Even if I knew 28° C was a nice warm summer day, I think I’d always be converting it back to 82° F just to make sure I knew exactly how warm it was, based on my past experiences. We don’t want to be the ones straddling the two worlds, dealing with parts in both sizes or wondering how to deal with machinery that still had Imperial components that were no longer allowed to be manufactured.
Besides, who has the guts to push an idea like this forward in the country today? If Republicans championed the cause, Democrats would rail against it. And vice versa. And unfortunately, engineers, scientists and the like don’t have the kind of lobby that would be needed to get politicians interested. Even a public relations disaster like losing the Mars Climate Orbiter (due to a conversion mishap) didn’t move the needle on fully switching to Metric. So I guess I’ll just wait with you for that long-off day when we get the first flying car—and wonder what kind of miles per gallon that thing will get.
I lost 28.6601 pounds this year (13 kilograms). :)
12. Which is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12.
The 60 which is 5 times 12 is divisible by 1,2,3,4,5,6,10,12,15,20,30 and 60. A system based on 10s is divisible by 1,2,5 and 10 only.
So a third of a hour is 20 minutes. On a tens system a third of a hour is 33.33333333333333333 Ad infinitum.
As the story goes, in the 1960’s, the Russian space agency worked in the metric system NASA in standard inches. The reason? NASA wanted to reach the Moon first
Well, they do call our system the "fractional measurement system"....I guess you could always freak them out by asking for about a quarter meter of fuel line.
Just stop it.
Or 0.1 square furlongs. Wait, one tenth? That's looking suspiciously metric.
Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.
14 and 18mm spark plugs.
If you’ve ever tried using the metric system in the machine shop, you’ll realize how unwieldy it is. My company makes parts for a who’s who of the automotive world. The parts are all metric, but the blueprints and tolerances are all in inches
And "metric" measurement is just decimal measurement.
as an engineer, i’ve always found the American system far more intuitive. to me slug screams mass better than gram (which sounds a bit weak to me). inch, inch worm. better than centimeter. force, pound. much better imagery than newton (although that’s a fine name for force also).
that being said, there’s a better reason to stay with our units. some european units are born of socialist european thinking. science by bureaucrat.
i also like that our units are taken from the names individual scientists who did the actual science (the unit points the student to the scientist who did the science) or directly from free thinking individuals’ practical experience, or individual entrepreneurs applying their science directly to free enterprise itself (e.g., edison, tesla, etc). i’ll take our units anyday over the supposedly “easier” and more “coherent” european system.
Divisible by 3. I'm not sure it matters with time, but the British system of 12 pennies in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound meant the pound was evenly divisible by 3. It makes for a lot of math, but it's not bad if you have two partners and want to divide your earnings up equally.
Britain also had a unit, the guinea, equal to 21 shillings. I guess it was divisible by 7, but more importantly, professionals could charge in guineas, rather than pounds, and pick up an extra shilling for every 20 charged.
I see the metrics by which you measure the worth of a sonnet.
I work with CAD ... My computer doesn’t care, my software doesn’t care ... either way ... couple of keystrokes and I can design it either way ... it’s ME ... I think in Feet and Inches but with a little effort I can visualize Metric and just have to double check clearances and ratios (the ratios are mostly aesthetic anyway)
TT
Yes that is it.
Spark plug thread size has always been metric.
I suppose some engine somewhere has used SAE but for the most part spark plugs have always been metric thread.
I use 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4 inch drive sets.
Anyone use metric drive sets?
(snicker)
Yes that is it.
Spark plug thread size has always been metric.
I suppose some engine somewhere has used SAE but for the most part spark plugs have always been metric thread.
I was also visiting in Canada last month and was amused by their systems of measurement. The thermostat where we stayed was in °C while the oven was °F.
Lumber is regular american 2X4s. And drywall was 4X8 foot sheets. I’m assuming that this means that the studs are spaced in inches.
I got the local newspaper to look up the tide tables and the tide heights were in feet.
The Systeme International is the default system of measurements and weights in science.
We are reluctant to change because tradition has worked for us but the changeover will eventually happen - if we want to trade with the rest of the world.
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