One of the great atttributes of the UK is its diversity. Our diversity of culture, cuisine, religion, language, etc (not to mention the weather) is what makes Britain great. Government and local councils as well as the private sector actively promote diversity in all walks of life, it’s become one of the main buzzwords of our multicultural society.
We also have such a fantastic diversity of units of measurements in everyday use. Yards, metres, pounds, kilograms, Fahrenheit, centigrade, we use them all and most people, except maybe the very old, can seamlessly switch between metric and imperial. So why is the EC and our own Government so concerned with eradicating imperial units? Had the switch been made years ago, I could understand it, but the two measuring systems have existed side-by-side for so long now that it seems such a waste of time and effort to introduce legislation banning the use of the imperial system. After all, most imperial units will fall into disuse naturally as the population ages.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some Little Englander desperate to hang on to the old imperial system, in fact I find some of the old imperial units quite absurd. The Btu, for example, is to me like some ailing third world economy in desperate need of a revaluation. After all (and I had to look this up), a relatively meagre 10kW equates to the best part of 35,000Btu/hr. Give me kilowatts any day of the week, but there are many others measurements of power to choose from – calories, joules, horsepower, electronvolts and ergs, to name but a few.
Again, on a personal level, and for the sake of tradition, I’d like to keep the pint, am not bothered about the gill and have nothing against buying petrol by the litre rather than the gallon.
Of course, many pipes, fittings, valves, etc, still use imperial measurements. Much of this is supposedly influenced by America but even there the millimetre, or more specifically the 9mm, has been widely adopted by certain members of society.
I still tend to use feet and inches but have no problem with millimetres and centimetres. In fact, few men would argue that in certain circumstances measurements in millimetres (or, perhaps, centimetres) sound far more impressive than inches.
Likewise with Fahrenheit and centigrade; I’m happier using Fahrenheit at higher ambient temperatures but find it easier to understand centigrade measurements at medium to low temperatures.
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The two systems live happily together, for the sake of diversity why don’t we leave them alone.
Neil Everitt
Editor