Metric Views

Do British road signs have symbols on them or abbreviations? (Martin Vlietstra asks a rhetorical question).

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On Saturday 21 July 2007, I visited  a Tesco store in the West Midlands. On many of the fruit and vegetable displays there were  signs showing the inkorrect symbol ‘Kg’. (Article contributed by Philip Bladon, author of ’A Dictionary of International Units’)

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When one day the British roads are converted to metric units, drivers will need to get used to distances that are measured in kilometres and speeds that are measured in kilometres per hour (article contributed by Martin Vlietstra). (more…)

A feature of the metric system, which distinguishes it from customary ‘systems’, is the use prefixes for decimal multiples and submultiples as well as the use of symbols for units. These were not part of Wilkins’ proposals of 1668. Roddy Urquhart compares Wilkins’ proposals with the modern metric system (SI).

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New research suggests that the principles of the metric system may have been outlined originally in England. The BBC launched this discovery on an unsuspecting British public during the Six o’clock News on 13 July. Here is the transcript of the broadcast (obtained by Robin Paice). (more…)

The recent discovery that the principles of the metric system were proposed in England over a century before they were adopted in France seems to deserve comment on Metric Views. (Article contributed by Derek Pollard). (more…)

Overheard at the deli counter in a Sainsbury’s in Sussex (reported by Roz Denny). (more…)

A fellow metric supporter whom admits to being a little weak on mathematics owned up to not understanding the difference between accuracy and precision when it comes to measurement.

He is probably right in saying that he is not alone and that many people fail to see advantages with metric in this respect.

I offer here two examples in an attempt to clarify the issue, one purely numeric, the other practical involving an everyday example of measurement.

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