Subject: RE: Bq soon

[Ivor Surveyor <isurveyor@vianet.net.au>]

To a person living outside of the USA it is a matter of amazement to find

the bizarre combination of units used in American texts.  For

instance on a single page of a recently published text on Radiation

Protection [ J. Shapiro 4th Edition] I found the student had to contend

with a plethora of units.


On page 361:   Ft; Ft^2; Ft/min;

Ft^3/min;  cm^3/day;  pCi/cc;  

microCi/cc;   mCi; MBq


Or on page 372:  1 acre = 4,047 m^2; 1km^2 = 247 Acres;

pCi/m^2-s

and a reminder to multiple mCi by 37 to obtain MBq, and pCi by 0.037 to

convert to Bq; or Ci by 37 to obtain GBq.


Though out the book there is a continuous need to convert  Sv to

rem(s); Gy to rad(s); length in cm, ft or m and so on.  



By the way in strict SI there is no place for the cm, cc, or cm^3. 

or use of "pleural forms for units.



I just wonder how this irrational jumble of old and new units is

tolerated.   Surely more then one "Mars probe" must

have gone  astray, because of this confusing jumble?   I

suspect that more then one author has developed a severe

"headache" from proof reading of texts.  The high quality

of  many American texts and publications are such as to have a great

appeal to international readers     What a waste of

intellectual effort is expanded in converting backwards and forwards from

one system to the other, as one reads and studies papers, text books, or

regulations.   


I am not aware of any real problem in Australia or UK when we adopted the

SI system, except perhaps a feeling of joyous relief.

Ivor Surveyor  [isurveyor@vianet.net.au]