Re: Strange Maths (was Re: Why not 13 months?)
jvolin@panix.com
20 Jul 1995 21:08:53 -0400
In <3uk4ko$6an@shore.shore.net> Whittet@shore.net (Whittet) writes:
>In article <DBzGHw.Gsp@midway.uchicago.edu>, meron@cars3.uchicago.edu says...
>The thing which requires standards of measure is international trade. When you
>order your cedars from Lebanon it would be nice if they come cut to the length
>you expect, The same applies to those blocks of granite you have ordered from
>Nubia. The Egyptians traded all over the world.
Similar to the present day world standard of electrical voltage - 110,
120,220,240, and numerous variations of the above. Also standards like Hz
in alternating current - 50Hz, 60Hz. Or international standards in
communication, such as NTSC, PAL, and SECAM - used in TV communication.
Or storage: do you store a/v material on a Betamax standard tape, or a
VHS? As to physical measurement, do you prefer metric or English?
The game's not over yet. Which standard do _you_ want for HDTV?
In thousands of years, will historians and archeologists ponder as to how
a civilization able to construct artifacts that demand a high degree of
engineering skill could do so, with no basic worldwide standards of
measurement?
--
Jim Volin
jvolin@panix.com
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