We Went to the Moon on Feet and Inches

Anonymous via the Cypherpunks Tonga Remailer
wrote in :

The Saturn V Moon Rocket was constructed to the U.S. Common
Measurement system, wasn't it? I don't know about SpaceShipOne, but
its record setting altitude was reported in feet or miles, not in
millimeters.

If inches and feet are good enough for going to the Moon, isn't it
good enough for building stuff we use every day? The Government is
trying here and there to go metric. Listen to modern day soldiers
talk about "meters" or "two clicks" almost as if its intuitive. But I
say its regugicated rote, forced on to them by unlearned commanders,
because every soldier still estimates in yards and then converts 1:1
to meters, inducing an automatic error of 9%. About the only way he
gets meters correctly is if he uses a rangefinder calibrated in
meters. I have tested scientifically trained people extemporaneously
for metric knowledge and they fail miserably. Just ask your doctor,
who works day in and day out with his metric sized medicines to
estimate his weight in kilos. He will reach for a calculator! Even
physicists in the U.S. will do the same. You have to grow up with the
metric system to think metric. There is no way to get the U.S. to
switch. It can't be done.

Well, what about metric scrutinized scientifically? Its said to be
more rational than the English or closely coupled U.S. Common system.
Some think the inch is irrational because it originally was the width
of the King's thumb. Well, the meter is 1/10,000,000 of the distance
from the North Pole to the Equator as it passes through the longitude
of Paris. Both are "arbitrary." But the inch is better than the meter
because it is less arbitrary. First of all, its a more convenient
length. The meter is too long and the cm is too small. And the inch
is simple. Take one inch. Nothing is simpler than "1" but it takes
2.54 cm to equal 1 inch. 2.54 is much more complex than 1. The
metric system is said to be more rational because it is decimalized.
But the inch can and has been decimalized for eons. Mechanics use the
micrometer which is decimalized to 1/10,000 inch in its common form.
So you can have for example 0.003 in. bearing clearance. Quick, you
metric guys, what fraction of a mm is that? See? You need a
calculator. Those who say it is irrational to have 12 inches to a
foot instead of 10 inches to the foot are totally wrong. 12 is
divisible by far more numbers than the 10 of the metric system. Miles
are no problem either. Whats wrong with 5280 ft/mile or 1760 yards?
Comes out perfectly even. That's why the X-15's top speed is still
quoted by NASA in mph and altitudes in ft.

Even feet can be decimalized if it suits the purpose. Surveyors do it
all the time. The width of the lot your house is built on might be
50.42 feet. Much more accurate than saying its 1834 cm.

Even worse is the confusion in the metric system over volumes and
liquid measurement. A cc is not the same as a ml. They are the same
only at one single temperature, and who can keep all his liquids at
that fixed temperature? Its totally impractical. And when it comes to
scientific measurements, there is total confusion with metric. Ergs,
neutron-meters, is next to impossible to understand much less work
with. Smokin' Rockets, isn't it much easier to think amp-volts or
ft.lbs, watts and lbs-ft.? Just ask someone who knows something.

The finale' of my argument is your Asian and European goods are never
100% metric. Look at your wheels on that Toyota or Volkswagen. Do you
see where the tire fits an inch size wheel (13, 14, or 15)? Why not
metric if metric was so hot? What about that Sony TV? Doesn't if have
a screen measured in inches (like 19, 21, 27, 30, etc.) instead of
meters? Those Chinese made items of clothing are waist sized in
inches, not cm. I could go on and on. The world realizes that our
common system is best, but they are already stuck with that idiotic
metric system derived by that crazy guy, Pascal.

Quick, how many cm in one Dm? If you can't cough it up without your
reference book, I'm right again.



Soidlers say something is "two clicks" away because they just passed a
sign saying ".... 2km".

It helps to use the units of a country when you're there, especially for
distance.

Tom