Re: Metric Time (was Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique))
Peter Ceresole (peter@cara.demon.co.uk)
Wed, 11 Oct 1995 18:21:23 +0100
In article <45fasa$3kd@shore.shore.net>,
Whittet@shore.net (Whittet) wrote:
>>>One finger = 3/4 inch
>>>One inch = 25 mm
>>>One palm = four fingers = 3 inches = 75 mm
>>>One hand = four inches = 100 mm
>>>Four palms = one foot = 12 inches = 300 mm
>>>Five palms = one cubit = 15 inches = 375 mm
>>>Six palms = 1 1/2 feet = 18 inches = 450 mm
>>>Seven palms = one Royal cubit = 21 inches = 525 mm
>> [rest deleted]
>>
>>All well and good, were it true. However, 1 inch = 25.4 mm.
>
>NSS ! The point is that the values have varied some over the years.
>The Roman foot of 296 mm was copied from the Egyptian foot of 300 mm
>and the English foot of 304.8 mm was copied from the Roman.
What a nightmare. Thank God for Napoleon. It takes a French rationalist to
impose a workable system on his country, but it takes a bloody good system
to conquer the whole world because averybody who actually uses measurements
prefers it.
Peter
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