Last October Network Rail announced that they will be phasing out miles, chains and yards on the British Rail network in favour of metric units. This has already been done on most, if not all Britain’s metro and tram systems while the dimensions of railway vehicles have been measured in metric units since the 1970s. Why this change of heart?
(Article contributed by Martin Vlietstra)
Category: Technical
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)”
‘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.
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.
The IET – how does it measure up?
We return to one of our favourite topics – the link between numeracy, units of measurement and British engineering success.
And the winner is …
This week, Metric Views takes a look at a recent awards ceremony in the construction industry.
The reports of the death of the micron are greatly exaggerated
After a two month break, Metric Views returns with an article by UKMA’s new Chairman, John Frewen-Lord, about an aspect current metric usage. (With apologies to Mark Twain for the headline). Continue reading “The reports of the death of the micron are greatly exaggerated”
Possible redefinition of the second
A few days ago, a news story appeared about the possible redefinition of the second. The BBC reported that scientists have invented a clock that loses just one second in 300 million years.
Metrication in Australia
As the UK approaches the fiftieth anniversary of the commencement of its prolonged metric changeover, we draw attention to an article about a country that succeeded in making the transition in little more than a decade.
Metric Views 