home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!ub4b!news.cs.kuleuven.ac.be!blekul11!frmop11!dearn!esoc!estec!rfrancis
- Organisation: European Space Technology Centre (E.S.T.E.C)
- Date: Wednesday, 11 Nov 1992 13:27:48 CET
- From: C R Francis <RFRANCIS@ESTEC.BITNET>
- Message-ID: <92316.132748RFRANCIS@ESTEC.BITNET>
- Newsgroups: sci.space
- Subject: Re: Metric again
- References: <17268@mindlink.bc.ca> <1992Nov8.222219.14106@infodev.cam.ac.uk>
- Lines: 22
-
- In article <1992Nov8.222219.14106@infodev.cam.ac.uk>, sl25@cus.cam.ac.uk (Steve
- Linton) says:
- >My main beef about NASA metrication concerns precision. How often have you
- >seen
- >"This tiny widget, only about 1 inch (2.54cm) across"? If the diameter is
- >given
- >as "about 1 inch" the implied precision is about +-25%. As such, the proper
- >metric form is "two or three centimeters" or "a couple of centimeters". 2.54cm
- >implies a precision that just isn't there.
-
- You are right.
-
- This kind of lunacy happens because people may _use_ SI, but don't yet
- _think_ SI. It will come, over years, and then mental unit conversions
- will stop being necessary, and things will make sense when you read
- them.
-
- ------------------------------------- Richard Francis
- Internet: rfrancis@estec.estec.esa.nl European Space Research and
- Bitnet : rfrancis@estec.bitnet Technology Centre (ESTEC)
- SPAN : ESTERS::FRANCIS
- smail : C R Francis, OEE/JWP, ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2200AG NOORDWIJK NL
-