Units of Measurement

[Cthulhu.Science]

Hey, look what I found
RULERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

The "Rulers of the Ancient World" is a metrology/design/production project, based around producing a range of period correct rulers from various ancient empires.

Stemming from a personal fascination with the creation and development of systems of measurement, this project seeks to highlight the artfulness of handmade tools and the capability of handwork and CNC milling to complement one another and create a unique, novel product.

The original series of four rulers (Egyptian Span & Cubit, Roman Cubitus and Japanese Kanejaku) are each locally sourced Hard Maple, hand planed, French polished and waxed, and etched by CNC with a 0.1 mm engraving bit, which is then inked with India Ink, applied by hand. The Limited Edition ruler set, an Egyptian Span, Roman Cubitus and Japanese Shaku, were made with local and historically accurate woods for their respective cultures, and created by similar means. The French "Roubo" Fathom was made with flamed maple, and similarly polished and finished, though etched by hand. Lastly, like the Limited Edition ruler set, the French "Roubo Pied du Roi" ruler is made of European Sycamore, a geographically correct and culturally relevant wood.

The goals of this project are far-reaching- to illuminate the use of these ancient measurement systems, to enable a physical, tactile engagement with a piece of history, and highlight the possibility of beauty and novelty in toolmaking in the presence of traditional techniques and CNC machinery.

If you want to compare measuring systems of the ancient world.

 

[Danny McG]

Star Trek engineers use feet and inches - 2 minutes and 10 seconds into this clip

 

[JunkMonkey]

Star Trek engineers use feet and inches - 2 minutes and 10 seconds into this clip

Yeah, but they had gone back in time and were trying to blend in with the locals who were still using that old fashioned Imperial stuff.

 

[Harpo]

 

[Harpo]

 

[Dave]

"... I can already hear a bunch of you coming at me, saying Metric... I'm American so those are the units I'm using..." and
"...something in my mind tells me 'they're getting a little out of hand..."

Those two quotes sum up this entire thread!

 

[psikeyhackr]

For you brain dead Americans,
A mile is 8 city blocks
A kilometers is 5 city blocks
(actually it is off by 20 feet but Americans don't care about accuracy)

So to convert 20 miles to kilometers multiply by 8 and divide by 5. 32 km.
To convert 20 kilometers to miles multiply by 5 and divide by 8. 12.5 miles

 

[Harpo]

For you brain dead Americans,
A mile is 8 city blocks
A kilometers is 5 city blocks
(actually it is off by 20 feet but Americans don't care about accuracy)

So to convert 20 miles to kilometers multiply by 8 and divide by 5. 32 km.
To convert 20 kilometers to miles multiply by 5 and divide by 8. 12.5 miles

Wow, I never knew a city block is a standard size. It’s just like whales or houses or Chronstuff - always different and always the same

 

[farntfar]

I don't know if anyone else has said this yet but even in SI happy France, if you want to by a disk for your computer you need to specify if it's 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 inch format(*), and tablet sizes are still specified in inches (with the CM equivalent in brackets.)

* and floppy disks (whether actually floppy or not) disks were always specified in inches. (Who remembers 6, 8 and 10 inch floppies?)

 

[Ursa major]

So to convert 20 miles to kilometers multiply by 8 and divide by 5. 32 km.

Miles to kilometres: multiplying by 1.609344** gives the exact figure.
Kilometres to miles: multiply by 0.6213712 (gives a reasonably close approximation).

Simples....



** - Strangely enough, this is quite close to the golden section, 0.5 + √(1+(0.5)²)***, which is approximately 1.618033989, a number (φ) where φ -1 = 1/φ.

*** - This is the version of the formula based on the geometric method of producing (aka constructing) the ratio (by "dividing by exterior division"), which would have been one of the ways it was first generated. Why it was first discovered -- and, in particular, by whom -- I have no idea but, apparently, it appears quite frequently in geometry. (I first found out about it in a book called Secrets of the Great Pyramid (1971) in the school library****, a book some of whose contents -- there was an extensive appendix -- might, if I recall correctly (no guarantees given), be appropriately located in our Conspiracy theorists ahoy.... thread.

**** - I was the deputy librarian (which had nothing at all to do with my best friend being the librarian, honest...) when the book arrived in the library. It only reached the library shelves after I had read it.

 

[Parson]

Wow, I never knew a city block is a standard size.

I don't know if there is an "official" length to a city block. But I can tell you as someone who's walked thousands of them, that they are not all the same length in practice. In my old town 10 city blocks was equal to a mile.

 

[psikeyhackr]

I don't know if there is an "official" length to a city block. But I can tell you as someone who's walked thousands of them, that they are not all the same length in practice. In my old town 10 city blocks was equal to a mile.

That is unAmerican!
They were trying to slip in that subversive French metric crap.
Multiples of 10 are not intellectually challenging enough.

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

That is unAmerican!
They were trying to slip in that subversive French metric crap.
Multiples of 10 are not intellectually challenging enough.

Multiples of 10 are not intellectually challenging enough.

yeah, that's what why Americans cling to the imperial system -- Intellectual rigor.

And you need only look at a couple cities to find that there is no "standard" block length in the US. The size of blocks is whatever the developer of the land thought would maximize their profits. And that block size changes over time and place, based on the specific dimensions of the lot being subdivided and many, many more factors.

While essentially every city in North America built by Europeans was planned and subdivided before it was settled, What is now the US only has a couple cities on the Spanish Master plan for all the Americas. -- For Example Santa Fe, New Mexico. So only Santa Fe and a couple other cities have a city center with a standardized (to other Spanish colonial towns in the Western Hemisphere).

New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc, etc. all started with a master plan, but the grid size was not standardized.

 

[ColGray]

New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc, etc. all started with a master plan, but the grid size was not standardized.

I dunno about NYC and Phili, but as a born and raised Masshole, I can tell you Boston's layout was determined by cow paths, swamp water and keen eyed witch hunters. Our city blocks vary from 1 to 4 Fens, where 1 Fen equals 22.25 Linear Steer-Hooves or 10 Foulspans -- a Foulspan, of course, being the distance from which one can smell the evil emanating from a witch's mouth.

I can't tell you the number of times I've given people directions by saying something like, Ye have nearly reached your destination, fair traveler. But yet continue up fair Boylston Avenue another 35 Foulspans and then hang a right onto Arlington and there ye shall see the Common!

And then the tourist looks at me like I'm the ahole! Learn <clap> the local <clap> units <clap> of <clap> measure! Who can say why Boston has a certain reputation...

 

[Harpo]

We need an expanded version of this scale, to include giraffes, pugs, Taylor Swift, et cetera….

 

[Ursa major]

Are the bananas measured along their surface (and which surface) or as the crow flies?

 

[Harpo]

I’m not sure anyone has ever measured the airspeed velocity of an unladen crow, although some claim that our planet is banana-shaped.

 

[Biskit]

Are the bananas measured along their surface (and which surface) or as the crow flies?

I have now tried measuring a banana as the crow flies, which takes patience because our crows won't fly when required, unlike the magpies, who are quite obliging, and the pigeons who descend the moment I put out corn for the chickens**.
I got bored and ate the banana, but now that I have typed this up I can confirm the length of a banana as three syllables. I do realise that had I not done it as a two-clause sentence, I would have had a decimal point at the end of the banana.

**There is no point in measuring a banana as the chicken flies because, on average, they are not in the air long enough to get the tape measure unrolled.

 

[Swank]

A news program featured the fact that "every gallon is filtered," because an infinite number of units is somehow superior to "all".

 

[psikeyhackr]

Miles to kilometres: multiplying by 1.609344** gives the exact figure.
Kilometres to miles: multiply by 0.6213712 (gives a reasonably close approximation).

Simples....

Of course if you cannot do that in your head to 6 decimal places you will be kicked out of school.