[ RadSafe ] SI units (was Oregon..etc)

[Stabin, Michael]

Franz wrote:

>I really have a wish, connected to radiation protection: The whole world is learning English, but the USA is still sticking to radiation units being more than outdated in almost all of what US-hardliners call "rest of the world". The USA will soon be the only country in this world using them.  

Perfect!!! Hear, hear! I used to show a graph of the worldwide 'iron triangle" of protection against SI units, which included the US, Liberia and Burma. Now it is just a point of fortified resistance, here in the US, which is utterly ridiculous and nonscientific and must end. People complain that it's too hard, we can't learn it (of course while saying we can do anything else in the world). But every American can answer instantly if a 2 liter bottle of soda is about right or too much for one person to drink during dinner, right? Gy, Sv, Bq, it's not that hard, people and we look quite silly for not trying. As Franz notes, almost everywhere I go in the world, people speak English, along with their native languages, and often one or two more. You can learn to speak SI, get some dang Rosetta Stone DVDs if you have to.


Mike

Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP
Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Vanderbilt University
1161 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37232-2675
Phone (615) 343-4628
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e-mail     michael.g.stabin at vanderbilt.edu
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