Dave Smith > wrote:
> wrote:
> >
> > Of those questions, only the first is even reasonable. Nobody uses gils
> > in everyday measurement, and except for horse races nobody uses furlongs.
> > Any decent surveyor will know the rods and acre conversion, because they
> > would have a use for it.
> It doesn't really matter how often people use the measurements, they are
> part of the nonsensical system of measurement that so many people claim to
> be easier. Even the everyday measurement is nonsense.... 12 inches in a
> foot, 3 feet in a yard, 1760 yards in a mile etc. In metric, everything is
> based on 10s, so you don't have to convert metres to centimetres or
> kilometres. You just move a decimal point.
I understand decimal just fine, thanks, but there are *some* advantages
to 12 inches in a foot, etc. You can divide 12 by 2, 3, 4, and 6 so it's
easy to know what 1/3 of a foot is, or 1/4, or half. These are handy
for woodworking and some other things. What's 1/3 of a meter? Yes,
I know what it is, it's a repeating decimal. As someone else pointed out,
clocks are divided into 12s and 60s. No one seems bothered by that.
Now, please understand, I'm not saying Imperial measurements are better
or even that we should not switch to metric, just that they aren't totally
nonsensical. It's just different.
> Temperature is more meaningful IMO in metric. One degree C. is a more
> discernible difference than 1 degree F. and the freezing point of water is
> 0 instead of 32, and there is a big difference in weather when you hit the
> freezing point.
I'm sort of annoyed that they decided to rename the scale from centigrade
to Celsius, but other than that I can deal with either. Believe me, if
you are measuring temperature in a pool, shower or hot tub, 1 degree F
is quite noticable. Though C is really just as arbitrary when it comes
right down to it.
Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.