Metric vs Imperial poll

[ancient kayaker]

Originally Posted by hoytedow

So the English DIDN'T invent the English system? ...

It isn't the English system, it's the Imperial System. show some respect for antiquity please!

Originally Posted by hoytedow

Then they weren't stupid for inventing it, just stupid for borrowing it ...

There wasn't anything better around at the time. The English used to have a horror of anything new, and were not under any obligation to justify a bloody revolution unlike the French.

The SI has only been around in its current form about 50 years, having gone through countless redefinitions over a couple of centuries. As an expatriate Englishman with a proper sense of tradition and history, I am still waiting to see how it turns out before I adopt it.

[Boston]

die by the yard ?
I need more coffee before I can read any more

[boat fan]

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

Quote from Wikipedia
"Evidence for Unit Measures
The best and clearest evidence is found on Egyptian ceremonial rulers where it is carved in stone and where even those not fluent in reading hieroglyphic writing can observe the mh or foot cubit glyph spanning 15 fingers (3 hands) and 16 fingers (four palms = 300 mm).

The ceremonial ruler identifies the foot cubit mh placed across 15 and 16 fingers allowing a foot to be measured in palms or hands the remen has the nibw glyph above 20 fingers.

5 palms = 1 remen = 375 mm
The Romans, whose uncia became the English inch, made their remen 15" or 381 mm. The Egyptian inch was the basis for the Romans' Uncia and English inch."

Sorry , but that`s NOT the " imperial " foot/ inches measure !

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by boat fan

Sorry , but that`s NOT the " imperial " foot/ inches measure !

I know.. they lost the original foot/inch model during Decree of Theodosius.
In 391, Christian Emperor Theodosius I ordered the destruction of all "pagan" (non-Christian) temples, and the Christian Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria complied with this request. The original model was saved from the fire of Library of Alexandria and placed in Serapeum.. So eventually after this incident and the unfortunate attack of the Vandals to Rome when the only copy of the original model was cut in pieces.. Some sources indicate that the origina model was formed after Hand of Ramesses the Third

[Boston]

I wouldnt take Wikipedia as "gospel" there friend
they have been famous for there not so occasional gaffs in the past

thing to remember is
I dont think any of there info is reviewed before its published

[ancient kayaker]

It is supposed to be subject to peer review, but I recall carefully checking and correcting erroneous information in one page and finding it had been subsequently changed back, presumably by its originator. It's a bit of a jungle, and once errors get in they tend to propagate. However, I have found it to be generally OK when I have double checked through another resource such as a recognized encyclopedia.

[TeddyDiver]

My previous message was a completely fictional with a fraction of historical thruth as a clue to keep the fabrication together
But it could have happened

[masrapido]

Originally Posted by ancient kayaker

It isn't the English system, it's the Imperial System. show some respect for antiquity please!



There wasn't anything better around at the time. The English used to have a horror of anything new, and were not under any obligation to justify a bloody revolution unlike the French.

The SI has only been around in its current form about 50 years, having gone through countless redefinitions over a couple of centuries. As an expatriate Englishman with a proper sense of tradition and history, I am still waiting to see how it turns out before I adopt it.

Both incorrect somewhat. The system was the same in whole of Europe, but the sizes were different. Spanish called pulgada (the thumb), what english called an inch. Russians called it palats, or to that effect, and it was again of different size. Not to mention that french and austrians had their own sizes. Only english called it "imperial", as always, to be different.

So metric, which was around for hundreds of years before, was suggested by French to become one single standard for all. It was both a compromise because no country could claim it and claim that "their" measurement was dominant over the others. And metric is simpler and easier to work with as there no fractions, as they exist in the old system, to reckon with.

[hoytedow]

I use metric 1/64th of the time.

[ancient kayaker]

Fractions are easy, it's the decimals that are hard!

[Boston]

Originally Posted by hoytedow

I use metric 1/64th of the time.

or 0.015625 % of the time

[Mikey]

I was searching the internet for the legal thread depth of tyres in different countries and found something strange. Can someone please explain to me why on earth fractionists (i.e., Americans and Burmese) say 2/32" and not 1/16"

By the way, note the British English spelling of tyre, no spelling mistake here

Mikey

[ancient kayaker]

Originally Posted by Mikey

I was searching the internet for the legal thread depth of tyres in different countries and found something strange. Can someone please explain to me why on earth fractionists (i.e., Americans and Burmese) say 2/32" and not 1/16"

By the way, note the British English spelling of tyre, no spelling mistake here

Mikey

It's probably because the US tire tread gauges are calibrated in 1/32" intervals and the legislators don't trust people to figure out which mark is 1/16"

[Boston]

while back I had some fool pencil pusher come out to this job site I was working on and after getting his picture taken in a hard hat ( brain buckets were not required on this job ) in front of the prints ( which we had to supply cause he forgot to bring the office set ) kept spouting off about something that was a third of an inch

uh ya

I tried to act like I was listening but finally I just couldn't help but pull out a tape and ask him to show me a third of an inch

guy never came out to the job again

if I had known it was that easy Ild ask long ago for him to find a third of an inch on these prints that Im supposed to be "field verifying"

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by hoytedow

I use metric 1/64th of the time.

Was a joke.