Recent Comments
- Ian on Who should pay for metrication of road signs?
- John Steele on The generation gap
- Richard Ational on The generation gap
- comparator on Which? sees the light – and Panorama joins in
- Ezra Steinberg on FAQs about the transition to metric signs on UK roads
-
Subscribe comments via RSS
Meta
Categories
Category Archives: General
The BBC explains its position on measurement units
A reader of Metric Views has received an unusually comprehensive reply to a complaint about the units used in the the programme ‘Bang goes the theory’. We are posting the letter in full as we feel it may be of interest to … Continue reading
Posted in General, Media, Science
Tagged BBC, measurement units, metric, metrication policy
75 Comments
Remarks by Eric Schmidt throw up a paradox
The executive chairman of Google remarked recently that Britain needs to “bring arts and science back together”. But the USA, where he is based, is the most backward country in the world for sharing of measurement units between scientists and … Continue reading
Posted in Education, General, Science, Views from abroad
Tagged Google, innovation, metric, Schmidt, science
5 Comments
Eurocodes for structural design, and that decimal marker
Britain is currently adopting European codes for structural design and allowing British Standard codes to lapse. This raises the issue of the preferred decimal marker – should imperial or continental practice be followed?
Posted in Education, General, Technical, Views from abroad
Tagged decimal-marker, Eurocodes, style-guide, thousands-marker
10 Comments
Metric campaigner dies
Supporters of completing metrication will be saddened to learn of the death of Australian consultant and campaigner, Pat Naughtin.
Posted in General
12 Comments
"Can the economy survive without a national measurement system?"
This was the question posed at a recent seminar organised by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee in Portcullis House, opposite the Palace of Westminster. Typically, however, the keynote speeches skirted around the central problem.
ASDA downsizes strawberries – brilliant publicity stunt
Reports in the tabloid media suggest that Asda has reverted to selling strawberries in “pounds”. So what has really happened?
Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Law, Media
Tagged metrication, weights and measures
62 Comments
Surprisingly balanced article in the Daily Mail
An interesting article about metrication appeared in the Daily Mail Online recently, describing the current situation reasonably well – but arguing that the current British mixture of metric and imperial measurements is actually a good thing since it enables people … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, Media
Tagged dual-unit, litre, metric, pint, weights and measures
22 Comments
The metric changeover – a continuum or a barrier to surmount?
Readers may have seen versions of world maps showing ‘non-metric’ countries, usually Liberia, Myanmar and the US. The previous article on Metric Views generated comments about the qualifications for membership of this select band, and we now consider this further.
Will the Americans get there first? A challenge to Obama
Everyone knows the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Does this story have a predictive message for metrication in the UK and the US? A recent letter from the US Metric Association to President Obama invites the question: Could … Continue reading
Spain discredits DfT’s case against metric signs
The Spanish government this week exposed the Department for Transport’s case against adopting metric road signs in the UK as flawed. While the DfT maintains that it must allow an average of around £1400 to change our road signs, Spain this week changed all its motorway speed limit signs for an average cost of just €41, or £35.
Continue reading
Posted in General, Road signs, Transport
Tagged Department for Transport, DfT, metric road signs, metric speed limits
9 Comments