BlueSkyNick
Active member
Good old Lord Geoffrey Howe was on the TV this morning advocating that the UK should proceed further with metrication as he feels that we are stuck in the middle of two different systems at present, and out of sync with most of the rest of the world. For example we buy petrol in litres and measure consumption in miles per gallon, buy draught beer by the pint, but bottles by the litre, etc etc.
Thinking about it, if one takes this to its logical conclusion we should metricate all measurements for the benefit of Joe Public. In particular, we could benefit from a decimal form of time. So we would have 10 hours in a day, and 100 minutes in an hour. Thus one new minute would be the equivalent of 1.44 old minutes. With 100 new seconds to a new minute, one new second is very nearly the same as one old second. This would make it much easier for children to learn the time, to calculate differences in time, etc and significantly improve punctuality.
On a nautical theme, we should also metricate Latitude and Longitude. So instead of 360degs around the equator, each of 60 minutes etc, there will be 100 degrees, each of 100 minutes. So one new minute of longitude is 2.16 old minutes. Then decimal fractions of a minute would be simpler, and calculations of distance across the planet, would be very much of easier.
Of course, this would result in a complete redrawing of charts, but they all get updated over a period of time anyway, so not a big problem. Secondly, GPS systems would need to upgraded but this should be a simple software or firmware change.
Assuming everybody agrees, I will drop a note to Lord Howe to seek his support.
<hr width=100% size=1>It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions. <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by BIGNICK on 08/07/2004 14:02 (server time).</FONT></P>
Thinking about it, if one takes this to its logical conclusion we should metricate all measurements for the benefit of Joe Public. In particular, we could benefit from a decimal form of time. So we would have 10 hours in a day, and 100 minutes in an hour. Thus one new minute would be the equivalent of 1.44 old minutes. With 100 new seconds to a new minute, one new second is very nearly the same as one old second. This would make it much easier for children to learn the time, to calculate differences in time, etc and significantly improve punctuality.
On a nautical theme, we should also metricate Latitude and Longitude. So instead of 360degs around the equator, each of 60 minutes etc, there will be 100 degrees, each of 100 minutes. So one new minute of longitude is 2.16 old minutes. Then decimal fractions of a minute would be simpler, and calculations of distance across the planet, would be very much of easier.
Of course, this would result in a complete redrawing of charts, but they all get updated over a period of time anyway, so not a big problem. Secondly, GPS systems would need to upgraded but this should be a simple software or firmware change.
Assuming everybody agrees, I will drop a note to Lord Howe to seek his support.
<hr width=100% size=1>It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions. <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by BIGNICK on 08/07/2004 14:02 (server time).</FONT></P>
