Tuesday, August 01, 2006

38 Degrees in the Shade

Hg

Days like today always remind us of a rant our friend Chuck goes on from time to time, about why English units of measure are better than metric (despite the fact he holds degrees in engineering and aerospace...) It goes something like this:

English measurements were designed around human scales, not easy math. That's why in fahrenheit (in normal, hospitable climates), when its zero degrees, that's just about as cold as it ever gets, give or take. And when its 100 degrees in the shade, that's just about as hot as it ever gets (the record highs for today and tomorrow in NYC are both 100º F on the nose). Can Canadians (and pretty much everyone else outside the US) keep a straight face when they say, "Whooo-eee! Must be 38 degrees in the shade!" ?

Same for length - at least when it comes to feet: you can pretty well pace off 10 feet, using your own, well...feet. But 10 meters? Or even 3.048 meters?

Imnotsayin is glad they learned the metric system growing up in the 70's; but even happier that Americans stood their ground in rejecting its adoption, and the US government stood with the people for once.

Any other good examples of English (or 'standard' - heh heh) units that make more sense than metric?

8 Comments:

At 10:03 PM, Blogger Thomas said...

Palm Springs is often hotter than 100 F. Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are often colder than 0 F. Death Valley frequently tops 120 F, but hardly anyone lives there. Alaska in winter is often below 0 F. Antartica is rarely above 0 F, but is practically uninhabitated. Phoenix, AZ in the summer is often over 100 F, as is Southeastern California. Recently, Livermore, Gilroy, Sacramento, and Stockton have reported 10 consecutive days over 100 F

 
At 6:44 PM, Blogger Joe the Planner said...

Extreme exceptions can always be cited. The question remains: which unit system is more suited to everyday experience and the human scale?

As in most cases, these exceptions you list simply prove the rule.

 
At 8:37 PM, Blogger Reigning Frog said...

For obvious (and content reasons)... I LOVE this post!

I personally like the gallon as a unit of liquid measure. Horsepower is also pretty cool.

 
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