What does Europeans call the measuring system that uses feet and i... 2004-07-02 - By K M Krieger
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At 12:22 PM 02-07-04, Richard Jennings wrote:
>Imperial...
It's also called that in the US.
More of "Kris' fun factoids":
The reason for the name is that the measurements were originally based upon
size of various of the the King's body parts. So they were "imperial"
measurements since they originated from the ruler of the realm. An inch is
about the width of the thumb, foot is self-explanatory, a hand (also
self-explanatory) is 4" (tho' the term currently is only used in relation
to the height of horses). I forgot how much a Stone is, tho' I'm thinking
16 pounds but check that. I unfortunately don't recall the word origins of
things like pound, ounce, peck, inch, and others.
Also unfortunately, I forgot when it was that they became standardized,
i.e., fixed, given permanent values (sorry for the memory lapse, OTOH I
*idi* learn this stuff back in the 70's, so I guess I'm lucky to remember
much of anything at all <LOL!>). But I think it was fairly early on so as
to avoid confusion, esp. in cases where a building project (such as a
cathedral) lasted beyond a single monarch's rule, or somethnig like a good
ship design was used over a long period of time. Weights eventually had to
be fairly standard because of coinage and so on. I can't recall exactly
(again =:-( !) but I think that slid ounces were related to some number of
grains of wheat or barley, but I'd have to check on that; can't recall
anything about how liquid ounces or pints/quarts were arrived at =:-( .
I also think that the standarized values eventually also had to be approved
of and decreed by the Monarch. So that's probl another reason why they're
called "Imperial Units".
Metric, OTOH, was created by French scientist-philosophers based upon
calculations performed on various proportions of the earth and on various
bits of physics. For example, one gram equals the weight of 1 cubic
centimeter of pure/distilled water at sea level and (*I think* - check me
on this one!) whatever Celsius temperature equates to around 72 degrees
Farenheidt (i.e. "room temperature". Again, check me on the temperature
part. But Celsius degrees are also based upon water, with 0 being the temp
at which pure water at sea level freezes, and 100 being the temp at which
it boils. Meters and their related units are beased upon the proportions
of the Earth, tho' now I forget exactlyhow it was divvied up - I want to
say it's related to various sections out of 360 degrees (despite the fact
that the Earth is not a perfect sphere, but rather,is a bit flattened at
the rotational exes).
At any rate, the US "inherited" Imperial measurements because the original
Colonists came from the British Empire. They were retained, along with the
name "Imperial", because of the historical Isolationism of the U.S.. Most
people still use Imperial, although metric equivalents do show up on
labeling (such as the 750ml bottle of wine and other spirits) (it figures
that's the one Iremember <L!>) and, of course, the sciences (and therefore
scientific education) use the metric system because it is more rational, it
is universal, and it's a lot easier to deal with mathematically since all
units are in powers of 10 (so, a millimeter is a tenth of a centimeter
which in turn is a tenth of a meter, and so on).
HTH
- Kris K.
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