Metric system dumbs us down.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

Any real physicists or perhaps astronomers here. Are wave lengths of light or radio consistent? If so could a wavelength of, say red light, or a particular radio frequency be used as the standard of measurement, and we could use it to define any measurement we select, at least as far an distance, and by manipulation, volume, etc? Even Smoots?

That's exactly how the SI metre was defined between 1960 and 1983.

And the method (using an interferometer) has been known and used since the 1890s.


Then they re-defined it using seconds and the speed of light because that allowed more accurate measurement of different wavelengths.

In practice, scientists still use a specific wavelength of light (Helium-Neon Laser) when actually delineating a metre.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

And I'll wager that even on Swiss and French computers the line heights in "word processors" are given in points.

Heck, the text you are reading right now in your browser is defined in points as well.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Quote: "Hell, I can beat that - I have a ruler that has 1/3 of inches (used in the old days for measuring printning spaces on forms)"

Well, no :-)! I doubt that it's not marked in 1/3s of inches. More likely it's marked in "double pica"s. There are 3 of those to the inch, but that's sort of incidental. The "pica" is a measure of length, specifically of line height, of which there are 12 to the inch. There's that magic number, 12, again, the one that the metric fanatics find so hard to tolerate :-)

My typographer's ruler is marked in 6 & 12 (points), i.e. in "half-picas" and picas, and just to put the icing on the cake, it is also marked in "agate" points, also known in the Sceptered Isle as "ruby" points, which are somewhere in the region of 5.5 "typographers points". There are dozens (literally) of other font sizes, and each size, in the old days, had to have it's own, appropriate "stick" for setting the type.

My stick has inches also, of course, since column widths are measured in inches while line heights are measured in points.

And I'll wager that even on Swiss and French computers the line heights in "word processors" are given in points. I'd hate to have to compose a newspaper page using only the "metric" system. Prolly not even doable - it would certainly drive you bananas!

There are days when I long for that smell of hot lead wafting in from the Linotype machines :-)!

TrentePieds

I surrender - you're absolutely correct re the ruler. But since you mention it - have you ever looked at a french keyboard? The letters are all in different places

Most keyboards using western letters adhere to the QWERTY type layout or as close to it as possible. Danish, for example has 3 letters not found in english and they have to be on the keyboard - but basically a Danish keyboard is QWERTY type. QWERTY incidentally was invented back at the start of the typewriter age in order to slow typists down. An accomplished typist could type so fast that the mechanical arms couldn't keep up - so the lettters wer moved around to slow things down.

[TrentePieds]

Swot I meant :-) However, THIS particular size of "12 Point" was redefined by the adobe boffins - or somebody - and is not the same as a traditional 12 point in any other "language". Not that that makes a whit of difference.

TrentePieds

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

...Not that that makes a whit of difference.

How many whits are there in one iota? Or is the Whit based on the smidgen?

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

How many whits are there in one iota? Or is the Whit based on the smidgen?

The pepper corn changed all of that.

[TrentePieds]

Peppercorns and iotas have nothing to do with it! There are 6 tittles to a jot, 12 jots to a whit. EVERYBODY knows that!

Wouldn't life be so much simpler if we could just revert to the good old duodecimal system :-)?

TP

[Jason Flare]

RCH...

[TrentePieds]

We sailors would NEVER use an acronym like that :-0)!

TP

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by Jason Flare

RCH...

That could cover a wide range.

[carstenb]

Well ancient and local to my area, but it is seafaring related.

I the days of the Vikings, they measured distances by "rotorn" which would translate roughly as " a turn at the oars". Each turn at the oars was roughly 4nm. So everytime they changed the men at the oars, they could figure on having traveled 4 nm

ain't life simple?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Well ancient and local to my area, but it is seafaring related.

I the days of the Vikings, they measured distances by "rotorn" which would translate roughly as " a turn at the oars". Each turn at the oars was roughly 4nm. So everytime they changed the men at the oars, they could figure on having traveled 4 nm

ain't life simple?

Modern translation: one fuel tank, ie (for us) 120 L/ 2.5 L/hr @ 6 knots= 288 nmi traveled...

Now, that's a big unit for us to deal with, so we have centi-tanks, or 2.88 nmi or deci-tanks of 288 nmi. Let's see, we can do about two deci-tanks in a day trip... a useful unit, no doubt!

Jim

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Modern translation: one fuel tank, ie (for us) 120 L/ 2.5 L/hr @ 6 knots= 288 nmi traveled...

Now, that's a big unit for us to deal with, so we have centi-tanks, or 2.88 nmi or deci-tanks of 288 nmi. Let's see, we can do about two deci-tanks in a day trip... a useful unit, no doubt!

Jim

WOW Jim! you get 288nm from a deci-tank? 2880 from a full 120L tank - god almighty, you've just solved the energy crisis! What brand of engine??????

Oh wait you probably forgot the decimal point in there and meant 28.8nm per deci-tank

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by carstenb

WOW Jim! you get 288nm from a deci-tank? 2880 from a full 120L tank - god almighty, you've just solved the energy crisis! What brand of engine??????

Oh wait you probably forgot the decimal point in there and meant 28.8nm per deci-tank

Dang, I hate it when that happens!

Sorry about the missing decimal point, and even sorrier that i've not solved the energy crisis. However, I do take credit for helping resolve the oil glut on our recent Bass Strait crossing.

Jim

[Wotname]

AFAIK, the only whits are either a full whit or a half whit. The formere are rare, the later are common. There are no double whits or centiwhits or mega whits etc.