Re: Metric Time (was Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique))
Whittet (Whittet@shore.net)
11 Oct 1995 02:57:31 GMT
In article <45dt6q$cer@cnn.Princeton.EDU>, jrhodes@pupgg.princeton.edu says...
>
>In article <45chpc$skj@shore.shore.net>, Whittet@shore.net (Whittet) writes:
>>all worked out into inches, feet, yards, rods, furlongs, chains etc;
>>to give a geocomensurate standard of measurement which is far more
>>precise than the meter and has withstood 5 millenia of use with
>>very small variation.
>
>
>The length of a meter is known to a very high precision.
Yes, but it was supposed to have been geocommensurate, it is not
but the foot is.
And
>since the foot is _defined_ in terms of the meter,
The foot existed for millenia before the meter was invented. The fact
that the foot has a metric equivalent is part of the problem we are
discussing. Would you claim that all the things measured in feet
before there were meters are no longer in feet?
I don't hardly
>see how imperial units can be"far more precise" than the meter.
Well for one thing there are exactly twice as many seconds in a century
as inches in the circumference of the earth at the equator.
The circumference of the earth at the equator is 24902.72727 mi
There are 36524 days in a century
365.24 x 100 x 24 x 60 x 60/24902.72727 x 5280 x 12 x 2=1
Can you make an equivalent claim for the meter?
>Also, you might want to note that of those 5 millenia you claim
>inches and feet have been used, only the last 300 years have seen
>much scienrtific progress, and thast can be attributed, at least
>in part, to using a sensible system of measure- SI.
>
>Jason
>
lets remove everything which dates back more than 300 years
No reading writing or 'rithmatic for starters.
No chemistry, metals, machines, mines, astronomy, or navigation
No tools, building materials, you get the idea...
You may not realise this but without standards of measure it
is difficult to evaluate anything.
Steve
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