120 years ago, in addition to the activities of their members, the Decimal Association made use of pamphlets to make their case for the adoption of the metric system in place of the bewildering array of imperial weights and measures that were in use at the time.
Continue reading “How did campaigners for the metric system get their message across 120 years ago?”
With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee still fresh in people’s memories, and with a new King on the throne, it is a momentous time in our country’s history as the House of Lords votes unanimously to switch to the sole use of the metric system for all official purposes within a 2-year period.
The vote was undoubtedly influenced by the massive public support recently expressed in favour of the metric system.
Continue reading “House of Lords votes in favour of full adoption of the metric system”
Following the previous article about the limited impact of UKMA’s Metric Style Guide and the widespread mistakes in writing metric symbols, we look at one major source of these mistakes. Too many avoid the use of awkward characters that cannot be found on a standard keyboard and end up writing metric symbols incorrectly.
Continue reading “Too many take the easy way out when writing metric symbols”Despite the best efforts of UKMA to promote correct usage, the writing of metric symbols leaves much to be desired. Former UKMA Chair Robin Paice reflects on the impact of the UKMA’s Metric Style Guide since its publication, evaluates other style guides, comments on the teaching of measurement units in schools and makes suggestions for UKMA’s committee to improve the situation.
Continue reading “Metric Style Guide – has it had any effect?”20 May 2023 was World Metrology Day, commemorating the anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention in 1875. To mark the occasion, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) issued a joint press release and Directors’ message.
Continue reading “BIPM and OIML issued joint press release and Directors’ message to mark World Metrology Day”Britons tend to use grams and kilograms for a lot of things, including cooking recipes, gym equipment, commercial products and retail sales. However, they predominantly use stones and pounds for weighing adults and children and use pounds and ounces for weighing babies. Few use kg despite the fact that the NHS uses kg internally for body weight and BMI calculated by body weight in kg divided by height in metres squared. And despite the large number of everyday basic food products you can find in supermarkets that come in 1 kg packages.
Continue reading “Why do so few Britons use kg for body weight?”The late Alan Young, a metric campaigner and a highly experienced maths teacher, mentioned the problems of the measurement muddle that British pupils face on a daily basis. On 1 September 2022, I wrote to my local MP to raise these issues with Department for Education (DfE). In their reply, they failed to see the connection between poor numeracy and the measurement muddle and suggested that the key stage 2 national curriculum addresses this problem.
Continue reading “DfE fails to see link between poor numeracy and measurement muddle”The Government has recently made several U-turns on economic policy. They are not averse to making U-turns when it becomes politically convenient. The government is committed to dropping the requirement to show metric units alongside imperial units in some or all areas. UKMA is demanding that the Government makes a U-turn on this policy and scraps these imperial measures proposals. There is a way out where they can save face and avoid embarrassment and humiliation.
Continue reading “Make another U-turn – scrap imperial measures proposals”A new Barbados Metrology Bill 2022 was recently introduced in the House of Assembly. Minister of Energy and Business Development Kerrie Symmonds has said that the failure of align Barbados’ metrology with international standards (i.e., failure to fully adopt the metric system) has incurred economic costs. Nation News reports that “Consumers could soon be getting protection from the state in regards to having measurement systems across the board that align with international standards.”.
Continue reading “Barbados introduces new metrication bill”A Freedom of Information response from the Department for Transport reveals that it has done no research on the general public’s familiarity of road sign units. The DfT once used the lack of metric education as an argument against the metrication of road signs but has never seen the lack of familiarity with imperial units as a problem with its current use of imperial road signs.
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Metric Views 