The new version of the Met Office’s weather forecasting website no longer has the option to show wind speeds in metric units. All wind speeds are now in mph-only. Previously, users could choose from a list of different units, including metres per second and km/h.
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Recently, when surfing the internet, I came across some correspondence between a cat lover and a supplier of cat food. When the cat lover wished to order cat food the supplier’s web site required that he enter the cat’s weight in kilograms. However, he wished to enter the cat’s weight in pounds. He went on to say that he had measured his cat’s weight by first weighing himself (13 st 4 lbs, or 186 lbs) and then weighing himself while holding his cat. The rest of the article was devoted to correspondence between himself and the cat food company in which he voiced his preference for using pounds.
Continue reading “Why can I not record my cat’s weight as five pounds?”According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, an abbreviation is defined as a “shortened form of a word in which part of the word is written” [rather than the whole word] while a symbol is defined as a “Mark or character taken as the conventional sign of some object or idea or process”. As a result, abbreviations are language-sensitive whereas symbols can be consistent across linguistic boundaries.
Continue reading “Do British road signs display symbols or abbreviations?”Martin Vlietstra attended the St Cross Centre for the History and Philosophy of Physics (HAPP) one-day conference in Oxford on Saturday 7 June 2025 and has written a report about the conference for Metric Views.
Continue reading “Report on Measure for Measure Conference”Today is exactly 150 years since the Metre Convention was signed by 17 nations. This treaty established the use of the metric system internationally and created the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) and the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM), organizations with different roles, to co-ordinate international efforts to standardize measurements.
Continue reading “Happy 150th anniversary to the Metre Convention”The St Cross Centre for the History and Philosophy of Physics (HAPP) is holding a one-day conference on the history of measurement at the Mathematical Institute in Oxford on Saturday 7 June 2025 from 10.30 am – 5.00 pm BST. Participants can register to attend in person or online. Everyone is welcome to attend. Registration to attend this conference is free but booking is required to attend the conference in person or online.
Continue reading “HAPP one-day conference on the history of measurement”How are speedometers designed to accommodate the change from mph to km/h? In this article I will examine a variety of techniques and at the end of the article I will propose a 21st Century solution.
Continue reading “Speedometers and Metrication”Mondopoint is a footwear sizing system based on the foot length and linear width of the foot and is measured in millimetres. It is part of ISO standard 9407:2019, which describes the specification for Mondopoint system of sizing and marking. 1 It has the potential to replace various mutually incompatible shoe sizing systems used in different countries. Most of these systems use arbitrary numbers that do not relate to anything obvious. Even worse, different sizing systems are often used for men, women and children.
Continue reading “The case for Mondopoint shoe sizes”HM Government looked at the case for and against the use of dual unit road signs as an intermediate step in the metrication of road signs in the second half of the 1960’s. Three different methods for dual unit sign conversion were evaluated and some technical issues related to dual unit signs were discussed. The findings and illustrations from the National Archive papers are presented here.
Continue reading “Official thinking on dual unit road signs in the 1960’s”The 1824 Weights and Measures Act introduced imperial standards based on physical objects with certain characteristics, such as the Imperial Standard Yard, and a single set of volume measures based on the new Imperial Gallon for dry and liquid measures to replace several that were in existence. To mark 200 years since the passing of the 1824 Weights and Measures Act, I look at the main features of the Act and ask whether it was a help or a hindrance on the path to metrication in the UK.
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