On Saturday 22 December 2001 09:56, J.A. Magallon wrote:
> On 20011222 H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> >Followup to: <200112220214.fBM2EsSr022402 _at_ svr3.applink.net>
> >By author: Timothy Covell <timothy.covell _at_ ashavan.org>
> >In newsgroup: linux.dev.kernel
> >
> >> So, the English units were more attuned to nature. The only thing
> >> natural about base ten is that the majority of us have 10 fingers and
> >> 10 toes.
> >
> >And all of us count that way. Oh yes, the English unit is *so*
> >attuned to nature... this is why we have different measures for dry
> >volume, wet volume... avoirdupois versus troy weight... oh yes, energy
> >is measures in BTUs and power in horsepower... what is the conversion
> >factor between them (it has the dimension of time?)
>
> And different length for sea and land 'miles'. Very natural...
The land "mile" is based on a very logical thing too (at least at the
time). Mile is the anglicised "mille" which is French/Latin for
1000. And mille refers to the distance traveled after _1000_ paces
of a Roman army regiment.
--
timothy.covell _at_ ashavan.org.
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