We are justifiably proud in England of the legal principles laid down in Magna Carta in 1215, but less supportive of its command, “Let there be one measure …”. However, weights and measures laws are as old as civilisation. In this article, Ronnie Cohen looks at a unit of length from 3000 years ago, and makes a comparison with today.
Continue reading “A Biblical specification and a problem solved (almost)”
It is almost 50 years since the announcement in Parliament that the UK would be ‘going metric’, and 15 years since significant progress last occurred. Although most Imperial units have passed into history, a few have survived in common use. Here, we offer a Guide to those surviving units for readers familiar only with metric. And for Americans, who may feel at home with Imperial measures, we provide some warnings.
Have you been watching this series on BBC2 on Tuesdays at 9.00 pm? Three programmes have already been broadcast, with the final on due on 24 February. They show the workings of the House of Commons and there are a few surprises, or perhaps not.
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.
Continue reading “Decimal currency, metric measures and the vanished link”
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.
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’.
Continue reading “Measurement muddle – a customary feature of Britain”
We take a look at a uniquely British problem faced by our media and in particular the BBC, namely which system of measurement units to use.
Continue reading “Measurement units – a daily dilemma for the media”
John Frewen-Lord follows his article reflecting on his visit to Hong-Kong with another about two of the countries that once formed French Indo-China.
Continue reading “Vietnam and Cambodia – metric measures taken for granted”
Metric Views will be celebrating several anniversaries in 2015. In this, our first post of the New Year, we provide some pointers.
Followers of Metric Views may have noticed that one of our regular contributors, John Frewen-Lord, has just returned from a visit to the far east. In this post, he passes on some observations relating one of the countries he visited.
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