Dimensions

One Overcoat = Two Jackets!

In Rural England:
Q: How far to the Green Man?   A: About 10 minutes.
In the US:
Q: How far to Macy's?   A: 3 blocks down 6th Avenue.
 Q: What's the forecast for this afternoon?   A: the high 70s
Back in England:
Q: How big will be the development be?   A: At least 2 football pitches.
 Q: What's the time?   A: Just gone 20 past 4.
 Q: Boy or girl?    A: Its a boy!; 6 lbs 12 ounces.

You'll note, none of these answers were remotely accurate, with the exception of the baby's weight. And can you imagine if the retort had been "about half a stone"!

But this is the way we choose to embrace our environment.

In 1709 Mr Fahrenheit produced his temperature scale where he thought "0" was the lowest achievable temperature. And 100 was our body temperature. (this was in 1709, and later on, Kelvin had something to say about that. However, he did get the body temperature nearly right!).

33 years later Mr Celsius introduced a more scientific system where absolutely pure water will freeze at 0 degrees and boil at 100 degrees. Just so long as the atmospheric pressure is precisely 14.696 lbs/sq" or 29.53 inches of mercury or 1013.5 millibars!
Highly clinical and unquestionably the best way to establish reliable standards.
However, the Fahrenheit scale fitted much better with our perceived feelings of cold and warm. So not surprisingly, we stuck to Fahrenheit for some 200 years after Celsius was established in the scientific establishments, until the bureaucrats stepped in and decided to render the Fahrenheit scale as extinct!
And when you bear in mind that the Americans, who are no slouches, are "surviving" quite well with the old temperatures!
Being non clinical creatures, we just like to use dimensions that happen to suit the scale of the subject in hand and the context therein.

Also, although we are not expected to know precise information off the back of our heads, we do expect official signposts, on a motorway for example, and the time on our wrist watch to be accurate and reliable.

And we love to use "relative" values rather than absolute dimensions.

Walnut sized hail stones ,for example.

And those of us interested in golf, would far prefer to hear that the Tiger scored 9 under (relative to the par for the course), rather than a total of 279.
Even our 'evolved' dimensions are "relative". Relative or relating to our anatomy. Such as yards, feet and inches. And don't forget "the handy size"!!! Very useful.

I have worked in the scientific environment for the whole of my career, and am well used to the metric system. But in the real world, I still much prefer to use what ever dimension that is mutually meaningful.

I do note, however, that the specialised industries have been left well alone.
Such vehicles as 'Mach', 'Light years', 'Angstrom Units', 'Troy Ounce' and the 'Carat' are still very much alive!



Within our clinical decimal world, we usually ignore the fact. I've yet to see or hear a price such as 'Four point six dollars'. No it will always be "Four dollars sixty" or written $4-60 (with a dash).

At the end of the day, we humans are highly intelligent and sufficiently flexible to handle any type of dimension slung at us, and I wonder why the bureaucrats think we are incapable of understanding anything which cannot be divided or multiplied by 10.

As a footnote, a Welsh couple I was chatting with, when asked "how much colder was it on top of the Brecon Beacons, she said "Oh about two coats". To which her husband retorted " ah yes, a good overcoat" !

Eat your hearts out Messrs. Fahrenheit, Celsius and Kelvin!

• return to My Home Page • Or check the Precis •

September 2011