Michael, So it's less inconvenient if we force everybody to learn metric, high school students, children, office workers and grannies, instead of only the high school students who are going into science? What proportion of the population are these elite high school students? How does it inconvenience them to learn metric while not inconveniencing everybody in the country to learn it? Anyway, it's a silly argument because we're not dumb enough to make that change. I only brought it up to tease Patrick because he always used to tease me when I wrote articles using our standard system. I won't go on boring people about it anymore. Thanks, Joe ________________________________ From: Michael Wells <eyeonyouproductions@gmail.com> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Saturday, December 8, 2012 11:50 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Americanized System? For 'special situations', such as millions of high school students graduating and then going into any scientific field and having to learn a new measurement system, we wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone. If nothing else, this is actually a system that makes sense. It would also improve a million other non-scientific things, even construction. You even get to (for the most part) throw fractions out the window. It's all decimal at that point. -------- Original message -------- From: Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> Date: To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Americanized System? For special situations, such as nuclear medicine, it doesn't matter if you use metric units because only specialists would be using it -- it's like a technical language that computer geeks might use. But that ratified application is no excuse to force many, many millions of people to stop using the system that is familiar to them. Yet at one time that indeed was proposed; for a while speed limit signs were in both systems, supposedly the first steps of a change-over. Fortunately, sanity prevailed. Thanks, Joe ________________________________ From: Dave Gary <davegary@me.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, December 8, 2012 11:14 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Americanized System? Joe, If I was to dispense a dose of medronate (used for nuclear medicine skeletal scintigraphy) what would be the activity of the dose in “Americanized” units? The industry standard is mCi (millicuries). The adoption of weights and measures by a culture is a consequence of history. There is no system of “Americanized” units for radiation dose activity or units of radiation exposure. Similarly, our other measurement units are not ours either. They’re British. We borrow here and there and call it our own. We even confuse units within our “own” system…for example, pounds and slugs. It can be bewildering. That’s why I have the handy-dandy units-converting program on my iPod Touch. However, when I work strictly within the metric system I, rarely, need a program for conversions. That’s its appeal. Dave _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".