And then let's not forget THEIR Centigrade temperature. <the horror>

100 degrees is a hot day in L.A. Not the boiling point of water.

Moi

rage against metric!

got something better to rage against?

Why can't we all agree on degree's Kelvin? Can't argue with absolute zero!!!

ROFL

I can, nothing is absolute except death and taxes.

Moi

moi621 (imported) wrote: Fri May 13, 2011 10:34 pm And then let's not forget THEIR Centigrade temperature. <the horror>

100 degrees is a hot day in L.A. Not the boiling point of water.

Moi

rage against metric!

got something better to rage against?

In 1742, the Swedish scientist Andres Celsius set the freezing point of water at 100 and boiling a 0; outside of Sweden, people thought that it was more reasonable to measure heat instead of cold and inverted the scale. Ten years later, Gabriel Fahrenheit (1753), made a better thermometer (nearly twice as accurate as Celsius's). Fahrenheit realized that things could be colder than ice and wanted to set his zero at the coldest possible temperature and was able in his lab to achieve a temperature 32 of his finer degrees below frozen water (or about -17.77777 C) with a mixture of water, alcohol, and ammonium chloride. His original plan was to set 100 at human body temperature (the inverted centigrade scale places it at 37 C), but it has since been recalculated at 98.6 F. About thirty years later, Reaumur (1782) created an even less accurate thermometer with freezing water at 0 and boiling at 80 degrees R. Lord Kelvin kept the less precise centrigrade intervals but returned in 1908 to Fahrenheit's original conception of setting zero at the lowest possible temperature, which he now considered the theoretical limit set by the gas laws, -273.16 degrees C, so water boils at 373.16 K. Some people still honor Fahrenheit's original genius and technical superiority with Absolute temperatures that also set zero at the same thermodynamic limit, but retain Fahrenheit's more precise and finer scale, so that 0 on the Absolute scale is -459.67 F and water boils at 671.67 A rather than a mere 373.16 K. I think it is a shame that Fahrenheit's genius and technical competence have been downplayed.

And like Pi, Absolute Zero is not Absolute.

It has been subject to recalculation. Go figure.

Centigrade, Metric, we can only blame the French and Napoleon who spread it around Europe. Given time all these nations and their unique measurements might have been settled amongst themselves as the world demanded a more international system, like inches,pounds and quarts.

Moi

Too many bananas in a Kg. And too little gasoline in a liter.

What next, the metric dozen?

Thanks for that great review of temperature measurement development.

Reputation tag coming your way G.

Really, numbers are just representations of other things. The only problem I see with converting to metric in the US is the old farts (like me) having a hard time remembering how to convert our thinking. Honestly I think both systems should be used equally across the globe, just because it would help improve math skills.

My 2 cents ... or is that 2 farthings?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar

If it is Sunday, May 15, 2011, then it must be

Sextidi, Floreal 26, 219 which is also represented by the Fusain (Spindle (shrub))

Oh, how do I manage with GOD's calendar instead of the godless, Metric one?

Just fine,

Moi

Many thanks for clarifying the discrepancies between both systems.Very good justification behind yer reasoning for both systems.Though may I ask you what next to discuss?... seeing as how this topic has generated heated debate and has been resolved finally(rofl) it be nice to move on elsewhere.

May I suggest Calender reform?....It's a topic that's always bothered me personally as in I can't help but think can we develop a better system?

"Calendar reform has always failed before, and for a simple reason: All major proposals involved breaking the seven-day cycle of the week, which has always been -- and probably will always be -- completely unacceptable to humankind because it goes against the Fourth Commandment of the Bible about keeping the Sabbath Day," Henry said. "C&T never breaks that biblical cycle."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar(I'm aware of improper citation use)

whoops error in link too!!!

foxytaur (imported) wrote: Sun May 15, 2011 10:44 pm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar

moi621 (imported) wrote: Sun May 15, 2011 8:15 pm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar

If it is Sunday, May 15, 2011, then it must be

Sextidi, Floreal 26, 219 which is also represented by the Fusain (Spindle (shrub))

Oh, how do I manage with GOD's calendar instead of the godless, Metric one?

Just fine,

Moi

And hear last year you were talking about the Mayan Calendar, but I agree we could do a much better job.

River