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Old May 3rd 04, 01:11 AM
Jay Windley
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"Heinrich Zinndorf-Linker (zili@home)" wrote in message
...
|
| No, the problem with MANY (if not most) non-metric units is, that
| there are often several localized versions of them

Not when engineers use them. The English Engineering system is as rigidly
defined as the Systeme Internationale.

I'm not trying to trash SI, but the touted advantages are largely irrelevant
in use. For example, the relationship between liter and kilogram seems
wonderfully logical until you forget to take into account just under what
precise (and largely arbitrary) conditions a kilogram and a liter of water
can be considered equivalent.

Silliness is not in the use of arbitrary units; it's in the use of units
that are claimed to be consistent but are deceptively arbitrary anyway. If
a liter of water is *really* 0.994 kilogram under the conditions of
interest, then what good is it telling a student the SI system is
consistent? Foolishness is conveying the *illusion* of consistency and then
failing to deliver it.

--
|
The universe is not required to conform | Jay Windley
to the expectations of the ignorant. | webmaster @ clavius.org