lwall@devvax.UUCP (01/01/70)
In article <375@attila.weitek.UUCP> mahar@attila.UUCP (Mike Mahar) writes:
: An inch used to be defined as three barley corns laid end to end. What with
: recombinate DNA and superior plant hybreds the barley corns have gotten much
: larger. I guess the NBS had to make some adjustments.
Actually, the barley corns haven't gotten that much larger, it's just that
the cumulative error over the years added up, and they had to schedule a
leap centimeter last month. Now that it's September the inch is back to
it's normal length.
Larry Wall
lwall@devvax.jpl.nasa.govcipher@mmm.UUCP (09/03/87)
In article <314@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> lwall@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) writes: >In article <375@attila.weitek.UUCP> mahar@attila.UUCP (Mike Mahar) writes: >: An inch used to be defined as three barley corns laid end to end. What with >: recombinate DNA and superior plant hybreds the barley corns have gotten much >: larger. I guess the NBS had to make some adjustments. >Actually, the barley corns haven't gotten that much larger, it's just that >the cumulative error over the years added up, and they had to schedule a >leap centimeter last month. Now that it's September the inch is back to >it's normal length. No, no, Larry! The leap centimeter didn't make inches a different length. Each inch was still exactly 1 inch long (otherwise you'd come up with formulas like "1 inch = .606 inch," which are clearly paradoxical). They just _seemed_ shorter, because last month you (and anything else you might have cared to measure) were 65% bigger, by government decree. Incidentally, this means the month was also 65% longer, though being bigger, you would not have noticed this. The reasons for this peculiar phenomenon are shrouded in the mists of high-class physics, so I don't understand it, but a colleague, who has a Ph.D. in the subject, assures me it is so. Since the government had to re-tool everything for the new units on August 1, and then switch back on September 1, I think it's a shame they didn't take advantage of it to switch everything to metric, then we wouldn't have this barley-corn problem any more. The next leap centimeter is in February, 1993. I urge you all to write your representatives in congress and urge that instead of re-tooling for the next leap centimeter, we just switch to metric, and have done with it! (Actually, the re-retooling is not yet complete, so don't be too surprised if you find youself changing size unpredictably for the next few weeks.) -- | Andre Guirard "Open the door before you come in, Spike." | inhp4!mmm!cipher "Oh. Sorry, boss." | "Wake me up for | the good part."
leem@jplpro.JPL.NASA.GOV (Lee Mellinger) (09/08/87)
In article <1379@imagen.UUCP> fjd@imagen.UUCP (Fred Drinkwater) writes: :In article <287@nuchat.UUCP>, steve@nuchat.UUCP (Steve Nuchia) writes: :<> Don't kid tourself. The bureau of standards changed the definition :<> of "inch" to 3.54 centimeters. Guess how many parts on the space ^ :<> station are spec'd at multiples of 354 millimeters? yech. ^ : :No wonder the GAO claims cost estimates for the station keep :going up! This might also explain why my European car seems so :small inside my American garage. Hmm....... possibilities for :making bunches 'a cash here ..... there must be ... : : Fred [ future billionaires club dues now due ] Drinkwater I can understand that, especially since there are 2.45 centimeters (254 mm) to the inch! Lee -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- |Lee F. Mellinger Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA| |4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 818/393-0516 FTS 977-0516 | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------| |UUCP: {cit-vax,elroy,psivax}!devvax!jplpro!leem | |ARPA: jplpro!leem!@cit-vax.ARPA -or- leem@jplpro.JPL.NASA.GOV | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
peter@sugar.UUCP (09/15/87)
> I can understand that, especially since there are 2.45 centimeters > (254 mm) to the inch! Big inches and centimeters, there. last I checked that was 24.5, not 245 (or 254). -- -- Peter da Silva `-_-' ...!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!sugar!peter -- 'U` ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Not seismo!soma (blush)
alastair@geovision.UUCP (Alastair Mayer) (09/21/87)
In article <729@sugar.UUCP> peter@sugar.UUCP writes: >> I can understand that, especially since there are 2.45 centimeters >> (254 mm) to the inch! >Big inches and centimeters, there. last I checked that was 24.5, not >245 (or 254). AARRGGHH!! Enough already. Don't any of you guys have units(1) on your systems? you have: 1 inch you want: cm * 2.540000e+00 For millimeters its 25.4 to the inch. And a teaspoon is a bit more than 1.5 barn megaparsecs... :-) >-- Peter da Silva `-_-' ...!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!sugar!peter >-- 'U` ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Not seismo!soma (blush) -- Alastair JW Mayer BIX: al UUCP: ...!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!geovision!alastair "What we really need is a good 5-cent/gram launch vehicle."
jal@oliveb.UUCP (09/24/87)
In article <729@sugar.UUCP>, peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes: > > I can understand that, especially since there are 2.45 centimeters > > (254 mm) to the inch! > > Big inches and centimeters, there. last I checked that was 24.5, not > 245 (or 254). Gee whiz - the metric system is meant to be easy!!! A metre (yes, that's how we spell it in Australia, where we use the metric system - so don't bother attempting to flame my spelling!!) is about 39 inches. A centi- metre is one one-hundredth of a metre, and a millimetre is one one- thousandth of a metre. From this, most people should be able to deduce that there are ten millimetres in a centimetre; so the digits involved remain the same and the decimal point moves one place. An inch is generally specified as 2.54 cm, so it must be 25.4 mm. If you can't remember whether it's 254 or 245, try doing the calculation yourself (100 cm / 39 inches). It's not perfect, but it will put the 5 first, and 3 feet 3 inches is a fairly easy figure to remember.... Can we just let this die now? It isn't really worth the brainstrain that people seem to be exerting. Tony Landells. -- "Holy oleo, Batman!!" "Why Boy Wonder; I didn't know you could yodel!"