Tag Archives: measurement units

A statement from UKIP

UKIP’s recent electoral successes have resulted, quite rightly, in increased scrutiny of its policies. Here, we take a look at a recent statement by the Party’s Trade spokesman on the subject of measurement units.

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, History, Myths | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The 1895 Select Committee on weights and measures

This article looks back to the findings and recommendations of the 1895 Parliamentary Select Committee on weights and measures.

Posted in Education, General, History, Law, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Will EU-US trade agreement bring in metric-only labelling in the US?

A key point of President Obama’s State of the Union address on 13 February was the proposed EU-US trade agreement, which has been under preliminary discussion for the past year. (See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/13/state-of-the-union-free-trade-europe).  As this agreement is supposed to remove regulatory … Continue reading

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Law, Views from abroad | Tagged , , , | 22 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 , , , , , | 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 , , , | 14 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 , , , , | 20 Comments

Metric traffic signs – an issue that goes round in circles but will not go away

The reply to a recent parliamentary question prompts thoughts about joined-up government in relation to measurement units.

Posted in General, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , | 49 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 , , | 5 Comments

Thinking of buying a fridge?

A recent survey of their web sites leads us to speculate on where retailers see themselves: most plump for the present,  but a few appear to favour the last century.

Posted in Consumer affairs, General | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

UKMA launches Measurement Units Style Guide

In an attempt to bring about some improvement in the sloppy and inconsistent way in which metric units are often written, the UK Metric Association has today (5 July) published a “Measurement Units Style Guide”.  Aimed at anybody who uses … Continue reading

Posted in Education, General, Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 24 Comments