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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 |
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