Readers may have come across news stories concerning the conversion of petrol pumps in Panama from US gallons to litres. In this article, Metric Views aims to provide some background information.
Author: Derek Pollard
It’s trade or bust for Britain
This is the title of a recent article by Robert Peston, the BBC’s Business Editor. Clearly, successive UK governments over the years have failed to steer the country away from the latter and towards the former. We suggest a simple step that would help.
World trade – who are the top three?
On 11 February, Bloomberg reported that China had overtaken the US in global trade. One of our readers has now drawn our attention to additional information on this subject.
A UK metric time line from 1980
In June last year, we published a time line up to 1980 showing progress towards the adoption of a single, simple, logical and coherent measurement system in the British Isles. We now bring this story up to date.
A trip to the Imperial Scrapyard
When consulting a reference book from 1896, we came across an article about imperial measures which provides a timely reminder that, even in its heyday, this ‘system’ was not as straightforward as some would now have us believe.
Tips for cooking that turkey
Most of us buy our Christmas turkey from a supermarket, trussed and accompanied by cooking instructions. But for those of our readers who have obtained a bird elsewhere, and are wondering how to cook this unfamiliar monster, we have some pointers to success.
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Metric traffic signs – an issue that goes round in circles but will not go away
The reply to a recent parliamentary question prompts thoughts about joined-up government in relation to measurement units.
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Surprise choice for transport
This was the headline in a back number of a trade magazine that recently came to our attention. So who was this choice, why the surprise, and when was he or she chosen for transport?
Supersized Earth
A new series on BBC1 shows how our planet is being “re-engineered”, and it provides pointers to the future, some of them unexpected.
Thinking of buying a fridge?
A recent survey of their web sites leads us to speculate on where retailers see themselves: most plump for the present, but a few appear to favour the last century.
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