On Sat, 2 Oct 1999, David Eyre wrote:
> Where did that come from?

Unaccustomed as I am to publicly defending the metric system, I must point
out that it is not really as idiotic as David makes it out to be.

It is best to understand the basis of the system. The relevant
definitions are as follows:

Unit of length is the meter. It was originally supposed to be one
ten millionth of quarter the circumference of the earth, was
redefined as the distance between two lines scribed on a piece of
metal kept in France and redefined again in terms of the
wavelength of light emitted by a heated Krypton atom.

Unit of mass is the kilogram. It was originally supposed to be
the mass of the water contained in a cube whose side was one
tenth of a meter and was later redefined as the mass of a
particular lump of metal stored in France.

Unit of volume is the liter. It was defined as the volume of a
cube whose side is one tenth of a meter.

The prefix "centi" means one hundredth and the prefix "milli"
means one thousandth.

The expressions "cc." , "cubic centimeter" and "cm3" all mean the
volume of a cube whose side is one centimeter.

Ordinary arithmetic shows that one milliliter ( abbreviated ml.)
is the same as one cubic centimeter.

Personally, I prefer ounces and pounds.


Best regards,

Donald Aitken
Edmonton Alberta Canada