Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/08/09

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Subject: [Leica] Was Today is 8/9/10 Now Metric
From: michiel.fokkema at gmail.com (Michiel Fokkema)
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 23:00:10 +0200
References: <mailman.1031.1281366127.66617.lug@leica-users.org> <SNT121-DS23E6CD8AE5B021C17CCC87D4940@phx.gbl> <4C6069D4.50403@panix.com>

Funny,

Did he ever try to figure out how many pounds of water go into a gallon? US
or UK? Why the heck two kinds of gallons?
In metric its just 1kg into 1liter. Seems trivial. But for a Dutch food
technologist working with clients in the USA this is a major PITB.

Body measurement? My feet is probably longer than yours and I like to use
the length of my index finger.
Let's just standardise to the same system all over the world.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

On 9 August 2010 22:49, Rei Shinozuka <shino at panix.com> wrote:

>  This metric debate led me to find this intriguing site from some Brits (of
> all people).  It's an eloquent and cogent expression of why we yahoos cling
> to our inches and pounds.
>
> http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/estatopia/inch.htm
>
> Quotes:
>
> "Metric is a (scientific) way of measuring the world as if we were not in
> it, not a part of it. But we are in the world, we are  a part of it and we
> need a measurement system which takes account of our existence and which
> allows us to know our place in relation to nature. If we understand that we
> are part of nature then we will be less inclined to destroy it."
>
> "Those who know their history will know that the metre was invented in
> France in 1790 and is, allegedly, one ten-millionth of the distance from 
> the
> North Pole to the Equator. The invention of the metre was part of the
> Revolutionaries' rational and scientific response to what they regarded as
> the superstitions of the past. By contrast, the British Imperial system (as
> used by the Greeks and the Romans as well as in pre-revolutionary France) 
> is
> anthropometric which means it is based on the human frame. From time
> immemorial units of measure have been derived from the human figure: palm,
> hand, foot, cubit etc. Some fall out of use and become archaic but those
> which remain do so for the very good reason that they are convenient,
> practical, easy to understand and, above all, easy to visualise which is a
> necessary part of translating working drawings into a built structure. This
> was clearly demonstrated to me when I recently had a garage built. The
> workmen, all of whom were under 30 years of age were thinking and working 
> in
> feet and inches - 18" deep foundations, 4" step etc. When any change such 
> as
> that wrought in 1965 is mooted, nobody ever consults the real experts, the
> people who actually do the work. Where theory and practice do not coincide
> then theory is wrong and practice is right. "
>
> "The reasons put forward in support of metric are far from compelling. They
> range from the feeble (everyone else uses it) to the dimwitted (we have ten
> fingers for counting on). There has never been, to my knowledge, a logical
> demonstration of its superiority /in use/ over traditional measurement. One
> of the most famous architects of the Modern Movement, Le Corbusier, used
> feet and inches to calculate his twin modular system of design after
> struggling and failing to work it out in metres and centimetres."
>
> "We have now all been thoroughly brainwashed into accepting the weatherman
> on TV and radio telling us the temperatures in Centigrade (or Celsius or
> whatever it's called this week). But there is a curious thing happens 
> during
> the summer months. When it gets hot outside, the newspapers and radio and 
> TV
> start telling us the temperatures in Fahrenheit with phrases such as "..in
> the nineties". This is understandable because talking about temperatures
> "..in the high thirties" doesn't quite have the same impact. Nor does
> talking in Centigrade give any indication of the /relative/ temperature,
> i.e. how it feels to us. Is it hot or cold today? Will I need a coat if I 
> go
> out?"
>
> -rei
>
>
> On 08/09/2010 11:39 AM, Aram Langhans wrote:
>
>> Ah, to be metric.  I sure remember the ill-fated attempt in this country
>> to "Go Metric".  I had just started teaching in this little town in
>> Washington, Odessa.  I was teaching 6-8th grade science.  The law gave all
>> kinds of money and materials to schools to teach the kids metric.  The
>> school looked around at the staff and classes they had and asked, "Hmm.  
>> Who
>> should we give this task to.  I know.  Science teachers.  They use metric
>> anyway."  So the task was mine.  But they also looked at all the materials
>> that were send and saw that there was a "lot" of math involved, so the 
>> said
>> the math teachers could assist the science teachers.  Let the fun begin.
>>  The materials, or at least the ones that I got, were all conversion 
>> based.
>>  Lets teach our kids how to convert from the English system to the Metric
>> (or should I say SI) system.  I looked at that and said, forget that.  
>> They
>> will never learn it that way.  So, the math teacher and I devised an
>> immersion curriculum.  For 15 minutes each day (at the start.  It expanded
>> as time went on), we started talking in just "metric".  We would hold up
>> objects and ask what length, volume, mass, etc. they were.  Just "Think
>> Metric".  We went on metric field trips around town, walking about and
>> asking how far that was, sizes, masses, etc.  The kids were really 
>> learning
>> the metric system.  Of course, after they left our classes, they were back
>> in the English world again.  It didn't take many years and the school
>> district said stop.  Too bad.  I felt we were really making progress and 
>> the
>> students were bilingual in measurement.
>> This country has always been afraid of change.  From things as benign as
>> metric to civil rights.  If I remember correctly, when Canada changed, 
>> they
>> just said this is the way it will be and did not teach how to convert. As
>> Nike says, Just Do It.  Change all the signs, order forms, product labels,
>> etc.  Just Do It.  Mass confusion for a bit, but if you have to, you will.
>> Of course, any politician who votes for something like that would not be
>> reelected.
>> So, as a scientist and science teacher, I just plug along an in my class,
>> we Just Do It until it is second nature.
>>
>> Aram
>>
>> Aram Langhans
>> Semi-retired (retarded?) Science Teacher
>> & Unemployed photographer
>>
>> "The Human Genome Project has proved Darwin more right than Darwin himself
>> would ever have dared dream."   James D. Watson
>>
>>  Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2010 08:07:57 -0400
>>> From: Rei Shinozuka <shino at panix.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [Leica] Today is  8/9/10
>>> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
>>> Message-ID: <4C5FEF9D.40406 at panix.com>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>>
>>> On 08/09/2010 03:34 AM, Jeff Moore wrote:
>>>
>>>> While I don't want the world to be boringly culturally homogeneous,
>>>> there are some things we should all just get with the program on:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   - Use the metric system, dammit.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Metric?  We might as well dissolve the NFL and watch guys in shorts
>>> maneuvering black and white Archimedean Buckyballs using only their feet.
>>>
>>> :-)
>>>
>>> But any American born in the 1960s should remember this:
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Metric_Marvels
>>>
>>> The article closes:
>>>
>>> "Ultimately, /The Metric Marvels/ failed to convince Americans to
>>> convert to the metric system. ... Americans largely ignored governmental
>>> attempts to push them in the direction of metrication, and the USMB [
>>> (U.S. Metric Board <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Metric_Board>) ]
>>> was eventually disbanded in 1982 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982>."
>>>
>>> -rei
>>> (the ugly american, whose favorite lens is the 1.97 inch noctilux)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



-- 
--------------------------------------------
Fokkema Fotografie
www.michielfokkema.com
michiel.fokkema at gmail.com
GSM:+31 (0) 615569576


In reply to: Message from leicar at q.com (Aram Langhans) ([Leica] Was Today is 8/9/10 Now Metric)
Message from shino at panix.com (Rei Shinozuka) ([Leica] Was Today is 8/9/10 Now Metric)