Regulating with metrics

[Richard Brekne]

I stand corrected with memory appropriately jarred... there is a base 2 
variant thrown in the mix as well... down to 1 / 64th of an inch if I 
remember correctly now.  In fact.. now that you mention it the Imperial 
<<system>> seems like it is anything but systematic.  More like 
organized chaos... a womans ability to concentrate on one thing at a 
time... a mix mash of measurements reasoning that boarders the ridiculii. 

Cheers
RicB



        "The problem with the Imperial system... aside from it being rather
        archaic, is that below the unit of 1 inch... it operates exactly
        like
        the metric system... i.e. 10 base."


    Not necessarily it doesn't!  In school we used eights, sixteenths and
    thirty-seconds of an inch, more so than tenths. If fact you need
    those, for
    small measurements. No-one ever used Twentieths of Fortieths.

    Of course we also had:

    12 Pennies in a Shilling, 20 Shillings in a Pound (21 Shillings in a
    Guinea)

    16 Ounces in a Pound, 14 Pounds in a Stone, 8 Stones in a
    Hundredweight, 20
    Hundredweight in a Ton

    12 Inches in a Foot, 3 Feet in a Yard, 1760 Yards in a Mile, 5280
    Feet in a
    Mile, 4840 Square Yards in an Acre

    20 Fluid Ounces in a Pint, 4 Pints in a Gallon

    My Grandfather's old measuring tape has Links and Chains on the reverse
    side. (a Chain is 66 Feet).

    In school we certainly learned to use numbers and to work in different
    bases. Long division of money was the bane of my life age 8, sums
    like "How
    many items costing Two Pounds Seven Shillings and Threepence can you
    buy
    from Ten Guineas, and how muich change will you have?"  And no
    calculators
    either!

    Best,

    David.