>>Actually, the English System of measurement is simple to learn when you grow up with it. But who in their right mind would want to learn it given a choice? :)
>>
>>Tom
>
>One thing is learning it - meaning, memorize that a foot has 12 inches, for instance. But even for those who now it, the calculations are quite involved.
>
>For instance, how much is 5 times 1'7"? The calculation requires you to multiply calculate 5 times each part, convert the inches part into feet and inches (do a division with remainder), and add this to the feet you got previously.
>
>Or, even more interesting: What surface does a square have, if each side is 2'7"?
>
>With the metric system, all this is much simpler.
>
>But apart from this simplicity, there is another, perhaps more serious issue - international standards. The fact that the U.S. clings to old-fashioned measures requires a lot of conversion to and fro.
>
>Hilmar.

Hilmar;

Much of my engineering career was spent as a Metrology Engineer. Metrology is the science of measurement. We worked with the NBS (NIST) and international standards organizations all over the world. We used the metric system for all measurements! I was involved with mechanical and electrical standards.


You are so right – using the English System will hurt us in the long run. The argument is, “It will cost too much to convert to metric”. Instead of support from the engineering community we get arguments from ANSI (American National Standards Institute) that metric screws are not as strong as English screws. This is correct – so why not redesign screws? A fact is that English threads hold much more pressure than metric. Working together would be a positive solution.

What I fear and I see occurring is that other nations will prohibit any manufactured product not having metric standards being excluded from import. That will lead to serious problems as much but not all of what we purchase is made in other countries. That would mean we could import but not export. Stupidity in action or is that inaction?

My 1974 Volvo (which is my favorite car) has English and Mertic parts. What a pain to be under the car and need one or the other - the one that I do not have with me! I have to bring the whole tool box with me! :)

Tom