AW: Bq soon

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu [mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]Im Auftrag von mark.hogue@SRS.GOV
Gesendet: Dienstag, 08. April 2003 15:45
An: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Betreff: RE: Bq soon

I think Bjorn gave us the best flavor of what it takes to get used to a system.

The reason it's taking so long for the US to go metric is because the big push in the '70's (when I was in grade school) was such a flop. Instead of trying to give everyone a feel for the 'new' units, we were told, hey, look, an inch is 2.54 centimeters and a gallon is 3.7854 liters! No problem! Here's a table for you to memorize. Naturally, that made no sense to anyone. Plus, manufacturers objected to the real cost: retooling factories for metric sizes on nuts and bolts, etc.

Now, I have to think we've come a long way. Most people who use wrenches have already bought a metric set and maybe wish they wouldn't have to keep the english set too.

By the way, for radon measurements, is there anything metric that captures the real meaning of a working level?

For your information: Nuts and bolts are still abundand in both the metric and the inch system. In Austria everything associated with natural gas lines and water supply is - to my knowledge - exclusively in inches, at least it is in my home. This forces people to buy both the metric and inch-system wrenches. On the other side the business is so well doing in Europe that they can easily afford it....