What impact would Scottish independence (if it were to happen) have on weights and measures? Martin Vlietstra supplies an answer.
Continue reading “Will Scotland keep the pound avoirdupois as well as the pound sterling?”
Category: General
Hacking IKEA
It is said that people either love IKEA or hate it. Even those who fall into the latter group may find a recently published article amusing.
As others see us
A recent survey carried out by IPSOS Mori on behalf of the British Council may go some way to explain the UK’s failure to complete the metric changeover.
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.
Continue reading “It’s official – the UK’s hybrid collection of measures is here to stay”
“No more imperial-only vehicle signs” says UKMA
In its response to a Department for Transport consultation the UK Metric Association has recommended that the erection of new vehicle height, width and length restriction signs that display only feet and inches should no longer be permitted.
Continue reading ““No more imperial-only vehicle signs” says UKMA”
From 1520 to 3 – metric still rules (mostly)
A first for Metric Views – an article on model railways. John Frewen-Lord takes us to an area that many of us last visited in our childhood.
Continue reading “From 1520 to 3 – metric still rules (mostly)”
One hundred years of metric rainfall measurement
– not that the media have noticed. John Frewen-Lord looks into this oversight, drawing our attention to a centenary that occurs on 1 May.
Continue reading “One hundred years of metric rainfall measurement”
‘Area 1520’ – not about aliens or UFOs
With Easter approaching, thoughts turn to the holiday. One of our frequent contributors, John Frewen-Lord, has written an article about travel, or rather about a means of travel, which may help to get us in the mood, and which, moreover, deals with a topic not previously visited by Metric Views.
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.
Metric Views 