Recent Comments
- Ezra Steinberg on Joules – rare but minor progress for metrication
- philh on DfT guilty of making unfounded claims
- John Frewen-Lord on DfT guilty of making unfounded claims
- mary on DfT guilty of making unfounded claims
- Bob on DfT guilty of making unfounded claims
-
Subscribe comments via RSS
Meta
Categories
Category Archives: Technical
Joules – rare but minor progress for metrication
After many recent setbacks, it is pleasing to report a small but significant bit of progress in the long campaign to make the metric system (SI) the default system of measurement in the UK. This minor (but perhaps somewhat pyrrhic) … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer affairs, Health, Science, Technical
Tagged calorie, front of pack, joule
29 Comments
1862 report from the Select Committee on weights and measures
The question of adopting metric measures in the UK is not a new proposition; in 1862 Parliament’s Select Committee on Weights and Measures considered the matter and came down firmly in favour of metrication. A century and a half later, … Continue reading
Posted in Law, Science, Technical, Views from abroad
Tagged imperial measures, measurement units, metric, metrication, UK Parliament, weights and measures
7 Comments
Myths, misinformation and fallacies (1) – Are imperial units “natural”?
The claim is often made by last-ditch defenders of miles, feet, pints and acres that “Imperial units are natural whereas metric units are artificial”. In the first of an occasional series of articles on “myths, misinformation and fallacies” used by … Continue reading
Posted in General, Myths, Technical
Tagged measurement units, metric, metrication, weights and measures
14 Comments
A UK metric time line from 1980
In June last year, we published a time line up to 1980 showing progress towards the adoption of a single, simple, logical and coherent measurement system in the British Isles. We now bring this story up to date.
Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, Health, History, Law, Road signs, Science, Sport, Technical
Tagged Britain, imperial, metric, metrication, time line, UK
7 Comments
Cabinet Office gets its kilowatts in a twist
Visitors to the Cabinet Office website will see that this branch of the Government is measuring its energy use in “kilowatt-hours per hour”. It is a sad reflection on the quality of civil service support given to this crucial part … Continue reading
Posted in Education, General, Science, Technical
Tagged Cabinet Office, energy, joule, measurement units, No 10
20 Comments
Supersized Earth
A new series on BBC1 shows how our planet is being “re-engineered”, and it provides pointers to the future, some of them unexpected.
Posted in General, Media, Technical, World Records
Tagged measurement units, the future, UK USA metric USC imperial
5 Comments
NASA’s Curiosity rover lands on Mars
A recent comment on UKMA’s Facebook page has prompted Metric Views to look into NASA’s latest mission to Mars. This is reported to have landed at 06:32 BST on Monday 6 August.
Posted in General, Science, Technical, Views from abroad
Tagged Curiosity rover, Mars, NASA
9 Comments
The report that led the UK from one muddle to another
On 15 July 1862, the Select Committee on Weights and Measures of the UK Parliament published a report recommending the adoption of the metric system in the UK. That was 150 years ago. It was also less than forty years … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, History, Technical
Tagged 1862, anniversary, committee, measures, metric, report, system, weights
3 Comments
A better use of multiples?
To ease the transition to metric measures, straight substitution of units is often used – kg for pounds, metres for yards, km for miles and so on. Ronnie Cohen argues that, as a result, we fail to take advantage of … Continue reading
Ireland’s road signs revisited
In Ireland, the changeover from Imperial to metric of its highway distance signs began in the 1990s. This was followed by the change of speed limit signs, which took place over a week-end in January 2005. Seven years on, we … Continue reading
Posted in General, Road signs, Technical, Transport, Views from abroad
Tagged bridge strikes, DfT, dual-unit, Ireland, metric road signs, metric speed limits
19 Comments