One of the claims sometimes made by defenders of imperial weights and measures is that they are “natural”. The metric system (they may say) is all very well for science and technical matters, but for everyday life imperial units like the foot conform to the human scale and are more natural – unlike the arbitrary metric unit, the metre. We examine this argument.
UKMA discourages conversion between metric and imperial units. Much better to understand and use metric only - and forget about imperial. Occasionally, however, it is necessary - e.g. when trying to understand historical data or American stories. The following technical advice is offered by Martin V.
Defenders of imperial units sometimes claim that using units from different systems simply contributes to the richness of our language and culture. People use whichever units are appropriate to the context (they argue). Two examples of this viewpoint were published in the Independent recently. However, the Independent declined to publish a response sent by the Chairman of UKMA. We therefore reproduce the correspondence here – together with further comment.