Category Archives: Myths

Marathon myth

Posted on 2012-04-22 by tonyw

With the London Marathon being run today, it is timely to remember the metric origins of the marathon, and to puncture the myth that it is a race measured in imperial units.

Posted in General, History, Myths, Sport | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Linked by a common system of measures

Posted on 2010-06-18 by derekp

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.

Posted in General, History, Myths, Views from abroad | Tagged | 13 Comments

Are Imperial units based on 12s?

Posted on 2008-05-22 by Roddy Urquhart

It is often claimed that imperial is based on 12s (duodecimal) and that this has advantages over decimal. But is this truth or myth?

Posted in General, Myths | 15 Comments

First Emperor showed the way – 2000 years ago

Posted on 2008-04-12 by Erithacus

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the splendid (Chinese) First Emperor exhibition at the British Museum. Apart from the terracotta warriors, what impressed me the most was the way that Qin Shihuangdi imposed standardisation on his vast empire – … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, History, Law, Myths | 4 Comments

Language and measurement – an enduring relationship

Posted on 2008-02-01 by derekp

One objection to metrication that I often hear is that the imperial system is embedded in the English language. If we were to lose the old measurement system, we would lose a lot of our language with it, they say. … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, General, Myths | 12 Comments

Are imperial feet “natural” units ?

Posted on 2008-01-01 by Roddy Urquhart

With the slow transition to metric in the UK, a lot of myths have emerged regarding metric and imperial. With a New Year it is an appropriate time to examine some of these myths starting with the claim that imperial … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Myths | 11 Comments

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 | 4 Comments