A juicy story

July 24th, 2010

A slogan appearing on the label of a bottle of apple juice leaves some of us guessing about its intended message. Read the rest of this entry »

Measuring, trading and manufacturing

July 18th, 2010

Two questions from a reader have prompted thoughts about the impact on UK trade of the continued use of pound/inch units in the US, and about the future prospects for manufacturing industry. Read the rest of this entry »

DfT prefers imperial units to pedestrian safety

July 9th, 2010

Signs indicating the emergency escape routes in tunnels are of critical importance to the safety of tunnel users, given the particular hazards of fire and smoke within tunnel environments. Sadly, the government’s irrational position on units of measure even extends to these safety critical signs, as illustrated by the different units being used by the same authority on adjacent tunnels.

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Eggs by the kilo

June 28th, 2010

There has been some media excitement over a suggestion that eggs could be sold by weight. MetricViews asked its cookery correspondent for a quick comment, and this is what she said: Read the rest of this entry »

Linked by a common system of measures

June 18th, 2010

There is a widely held view in the UK that we share our measurement system with the USA. True – but not in the way many believe. Read the rest of this entry »

60 km Jubilee Greenway to be signed in imperial

June 11th, 2010

On 9th June 1977, the Queen officially opened the Silver Jubilee Walkway, a 21 km walking trail around central London to mark her Silver Jubilee, or 25 years on the throne. Thirty-three years later, work is under way to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a new 60 km walking trail, the Jubilee Greenway, providing walkers with a kilometre to walk for every year of the Queen’s reign.

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Is there room for non-standard units within SI?

June 5th, 2010

One of the main advantages of SI – the metric system – is that it can be used for any measurement task (from the kitchen to the science lab) – thus avoiding the need to learn a plethora of specific units for specific purposes.  However, is there a case for making certain exceptions to this rule? (Warning: this article is for the technically-minded).

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Glaring omission from Queen’s Speech

May 26th, 2010

The new coalition Government claims to be determined to clear up the “mess” left behind by the previous Government. So it is notable that Her Majesty’s gracious speech included no proposals to tackle one of the biggest “messes” of all – the intractable muddle of incompatible measurement units with which her UK (but not other Commonwealth) subjects have to struggle.

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Kids don’t count

May 20th, 2010

Two recent Channel 4 Dispatches programmes entitled “Kids Don’t Count” sought to demonstrate just that. But if you saw the programmes and are a regular reader of Metric Views, you may have wondered if the programmes overlooked the real problem. Read the rest of this entry »

Prospects for metrication progress under the new government

May 13th, 2010

The makeup of the new coalition government and its policy programme are now broadly clear.  How will it affect the prospects for progress on completing metrication?

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