Quote:
Originally Posted by Frederf
As for extolling the virtues of 1/16ths of an inch... that's not a property owned by Imperial, just commonly used with it. Fractions are not part of the measurement system. I can use 1/32nd of a meter just as easily as I can use 1/32nd of a yard.
|
And I can and do use decimal fractions of an inch. As a matter of fact, all imperial micrometers are calibrated that way.
The imperial system is a group of measurements loosely based on the measurements of man, to measure a world and items that man uses. For that reason, the units are sized so that they are appropriate for the items they measure. Using units that are a factor of 10 larger than each other makes you use units that are inappropriately large or inappropriately small, with no choice of an intermediary unit.
Using a foot divided into 12 inches lets you divide it by six, four, three or two using whole units, a flexibility the metric system can't even dream of. Architecturally, this makes building pleasingly shaped structures a brainlessly easy task. Small prime numbers unlock concepts buried in a myriad of natural and human processes. Five and two don't cut it.
As an experiment to validate my claim. Try writing music by note durations or pitches of a "decimal" type system and see if you can make it aesthetically pleasing. Music and mathematics are intertwined systems, following the same principles. Sometimes music can convey a mathematical concept much better than digits on a piece of paper. Small prime numbers are in the "music of the spheres." (Play the spooky theremin music here)
When I play the U-Boat, I strictly use the metric system. When I play the fleet boat I use imperial. I'm equally adept at both. But the metric U-Boat retains the knot. And the non-metric time and date system. That says volumes.