Re: Metric Time (was Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique))
Markus Kuhn (mskuhn@unrza3.dialin.rrze.uni-erlangen.de)
8 Oct 1995 11:24:53 +0100
From: aax@ix.netcom.com (ANDREW GRYGUS)
>>The foot has stood the test of time because it as the most useful human
>>scale measure. Unfortunately, a bunch of "intellectual" morons think
>>they have a better way and want to force it on everyone else.
"Has stood the test of time"?
Remember: Only ONE SINGLE country (USA) on this planet has not yet
practically introduced the metric system. The foot, inch, ounce,
pound, etc. cannot be THAT practical.
I find the meter to be a most practical unit of measure:
- a large step made by an average human is pretty precisely 1 m
long. Try it!
- if I strech out my arms horizontally to the left and right, then
the distance between my two elbows is quite precisely 1 m.
- I have found the edges of two bones on both of my hands which have
a distance of 10.4 cm.
- the fingernail on one of my fingers is 1.02 cm wide.
Knowing this, I can determine any length measure between 1 cm and 100 m
with a precision of around 5% without any tools.
And the most practical fact about the meter is that this unit is used
everywhere on earth. (Well, except in the US ...)
Just try it yourself! Do not judge about the metric system without
using it in daily live for at least a few months. It works great! And
I'm not even talking about conversion between different units and
conversion between length, mass of water and volume.
Remember: 1 L water has a mass of precisely 1 kg which on the earth
causes a force of 9.81 N (i.e. around 10), because on the earth things
accelerate with 9.81 m/s when they are falling down. That's all.
Easy, isn't it?
If you show me a rectangualar tank of any kind, I can find out quickly
its volume and how heavy it would be it you fill it with water in
metric units. You'll have serious problems doing this with your most
useful human measures feet, gallons and pounds. This is just one
practical daily life example of how easy the metric units are to use.
Believe me, once you got used to the metric system, you won't want to
give it up again.
Markus
--
Markus Kuhn, Computer Science student -- University of Erlangen,
Internet Mail: <mskuhn@cip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> - Germany
WWW Home: <http://wwwcip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/user/mskuhn>
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