Christmas approaches so reach for a mail order catalogue

One of our regular contributors has submitted a comment about mail order catalogues, even though he admits there is no Metric Views article to which it relates. We are happy to respond by reproducing part of one of several articles on this subject that have appeared over the years in UKMA News, the newsletter of the UK Metric Association.

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Posted in Consumer affairs, General | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Review fails to address major traffic sign issues

A three-year review of traffic signs has failed to address major problems with the UK’s signs.

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Posted in Law, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , , | 19 Comments

Spotlight falls (again) on the high cost of construction in the UK

The magazine New Civil Engineer (NCE) reports this week on a recent conference in Barcelona which highlighted the wide difference between the cost of infrastructure in the UK and on the continent. So it seems that the inflated 2006 estimate for the metric conversion of the UK’s road traffic signs may be part of a deeper problem.

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Posted in General, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Pound-inch units finally give way to metric in space

It looks as if astronauts, cosmonauts, or yuhangyuan as we will soon learn to call them, will before long have to cope with only one measurement system in space as the US winds down its programme and China takes its place.

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Posted in Science, Technical, Views from abroad | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

UK house builders rumbled

Obfuscation is a handy tool for those who wish to improve the profitability of their business at the expense of the consumer. And often a good place to start is the use of measurements. Now a new report has placed UK house builders in the spotlight.

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Posted in Consumer affairs | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

A very Caribbean muddle

Metric Views has received news on the progress of metrication in the Caribbean.

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Posted in General, History, Views from abroad | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

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 our readers. Continue reading

Posted in General, Media, Science | Tagged , , , | 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 others. So what does this say about the measurement muddle in both countries?

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Posted in Education, General, Science, Views from abroad | Tagged , , , , | 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?

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Posted in Education, General, Technical, Views from abroad | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Road safety experts ignore UK sign problems

A recent report into the safety implications of variations in road signs across Europe has ignored problems caused by the UK’s continued use of imperial units.

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Posted in Law, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , | 55 Comments