and the standard units for volumes, weights, and values
would be derived from the standard unit of length.
A hundred years went by
until the French revolted against abuse
of arbitrary units of measurement
by the privileged classes,
and established, in 1799, metric units
for length, area, and volume, to which were later added
units for liquid, mass, and electrical amperage, voltage,
resistance, power, capacitance, and charge.
The French term metre was based on the Greek
métron, which means measure.
Eighths
John Wilkins preferred a system of eighths
because eight is more easily divided than ten
but he deferred to the acceptance of counting based on ten,
and the success of tenths in decimal arithmetic
as Simon Stevin described in 1585.
Wilkins also recognized the desirability
of deriving the standard length
from the longitude of the earth
but admitted that this would be impractical.
Christopher Wren suggested
deriving the standard length from the pendulum,
time being theoretically related to longitude
and the revolution of the earth.
Units
John Wilkins dismissed the use of the barleycorn
as the legal standard for length and weight in England.
“The magnitude and weight of it
may be so various in several times and places,
as will render it incapable of serving for this
purpose.”
His standard length based on the pendulum
was less than one percent shorter than a meter.
The names of his proposed units
were common English words;
his standard length being called a standard.
One tenth of a standard was a foot;
one tenth of a foot was an inch;
one hundred standards was a furlong;
one thousand standards was a mile;
and ten miles was a league.
Conversion
I’d walk one point six oh nine three four
four kilometers
in your size twenty three point eight centimeter shoes
to feel your pain as a four on a scale of ten,
but I have no idea how our city blocks
add up to kilometers, and my size twenty seven point nine
centimeter feet
wouldn’t fit, literally, into your clogs,
so my conversion will need to remain metaphorical.
I hope to the nth degree that that’s good
enough.
Metric prefixing
whole yotta going on
zetta right there
exactly
peta pet
tera infirma
giga me a minute
from alpha to omega
kilo minute, kilo hour
hecto, where was I?
decadent
decimate
a centi saved is a centi earned
millipede
microbrew
nano nano
pico de gallo
the femto vote
atto boy
zepto your mouth
don’t dongle your yoctongle
Florence Pretz of Kansas City invented the Billiken in 1908
as “the god of things as they ought to be.”
Establishing the metric system was a success against things as
they ought not be. So many other aspects of our lives are more
irrational and heterogeneous.
After the French revolution, the Commission of Weights and
Measures included the Marquis de Condorcet, Pierre-Simon Laplace,
Adrien-Marie Legendre, Antoine Lavoisier, and Jean-Charles de
Borda. The proper name for the modern metric system is the
International System of Units, or, in French, le Système
International d’Unités, with the abbreviation SI.
The meter preceded both John Wilkins’ work and the
French revolution. Marin Mersenne measured the length of the
seconds pendulum in 1644; the Royal Society proposed that it
should be the standard unit of length in 1660; Tito Livio
Burattini proposed that it should be called a meter in 1675.
Florence Pretz of Kansas City invented the Billiken in 1908 as “the god of things as they ought to be.” Establishing the metric system was a success against things as they ought not be. So many other aspects of our lives are more irrational and heterogeneous.
After the French revolution, the Commission of Weights and Measures included the Marquis de Condorcet, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Adrien-Marie Legendre, Antoine Lavoisier, and Jean-Charles de Borda. The proper name for the modern metric system is the International System of Units, or, in French, le Système International d’Unités, with the abbreviation SI.
The meter preceded both John Wilkins’ work and the French revolution. Marin Mersenne measured the length of the seconds pendulum in 1644; the Royal Society proposed that it should be the standard unit of length in 1660; Tito Livio Burattini proposed that it should be called a meter in 1675.
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