Monthly Archives: October 2007

Are imperial units natural? (and some useful rules of thumb)

Posted on 2007-10-28 by Erithacus

One of the claims sometimes made by defenders of imperial weights and measures is that they are “natural”. The metric system (they may say) is all very well for science and technical matters, but for everyday life imperial units like … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, Health, Myths, Technical | 6 Comments

How to convert fuel consumption figures (if you must)

Posted on 2007-10-18 by admin

UKMA discourages conversion between metric and imperial units. Much better to understand and use metric only – and forget about imperial. Occasionally, however, it is necessary – e.g. when trying to understand historical data or American stories. The following technical … Continue reading →

Posted in Technical | 16 Comments

What’s wrong with two systems?

Posted on 2007-10-15 by Erithacus

Defenders of imperial units sometimes claim that using units from different systems simply contributes to the richness of our language and culture. People use whichever units are appropriate to the context (they argue). Two examples of this viewpoint were published … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, Health, Media, Road signs | 15 Comments