Whitworth is famous for the eponymous screw thread, and for his promotion of standard measures and interchangeability that brought about an engineering revolution. Less well known are his enthusiasm for decimal measurement and his opposition to the introduction of the metric system in Britain.
Category: Education
Decimal currency, metric measures and the vanished link
For over a century, the introduction of metric measures in the UK was linked to that of decimal currency. But then, while we were saying farewell to £sd, the situation changed. We follow the story and draw an unsurprising conclusion.
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Has SI delivered?
The fuss about measurement units at the start of this century has overshadowed progress thirty years earlier in education, science and engineering. We look at the benefits that were predicted at the start of the transition to SI and ask if they have been delivered.
Measurement muddle – a customary feature of Britain
Ronnie Cohen looks at the measurement muddle in the British Isles during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As our nearest neighbours on the Continent might say, ‘Plus ca change, toujours la meme chose’.
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It’s official – the UK’s hybrid collection of measures is here to stay
Recently, one of our readers wrote to his MP about the UK’s measurement muddle. He received a reply from the office of the Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts MP, who has responsibility for measurement standards in the UK. This reply confirms that the Government has no plan to reduce the current mixture of units in common use in the UK or to promote a single system of measurement for all purposes.
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Whither the National Curriculum?
We take a look at some recent information about the National Curriculum as it relates to measures and measurement.
Are imperial units ‘British’?
Continuing with our series on myths, misinformation and fallacies, we look at the claim occasionally made by defenders of imperial units that they are British and that they should continue in use for this reason.
An old habit dies hard
One of our regular contributors, John Frewen-Lord, observes that the beauty and value of the built-in simplicity and coherence of the metric system is not being learned by the UK population despite forty years of teaching.
All too often, mystified when we measure
John Frewen-Lord recalls several recent examples of difficulties with measurement and asks if common measuring devices actually inhibit using the metric system.
Should we forget fractions and only use decimal?
I am motivated to write this article because, in the past, I have come across supporters of metrication, some of whom with teaching experience, who say that only decimals should be taught rather than both fractions and decimals in elementary mathematics in school.
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Metric Views 