Charlie Pridham wrote:

Thank Gawd for the metric system.

Doesn't work at sea though! chains, cables, fathams and nautical miles
all work exactly with the size of the earth, meters don't work at all
and
french ships have a much harder job of trying to navigate in metres
which
all has to be corrected and adjusted to fit :~)

Well, it all takes time to change to something more useful. Do you still
use quarto and foolscap paper, Charlie? No, you use A4, A5, and any of the
other metricised paper sizes.

If I remember correctly, the metre was defined as "one ten-millionth of the
length of the earth's meridian along a quadrant (one-fourth the polar
circumference of the earth)." That seems quite sensible to me. The fact that
"imperial" measurements are still used for air and sea travel is due to
history, international convention, and the danger involved in changing. But
it will happen someday (probably when computers rule all transportation, and
measurements become irrelevant).

In the meantime, I am happy to weigh a kilo of water when I can't find my
measuring jug, and know I have a litre (or vice-versa). Care to do the same
with imperial meaures?

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)