The decimal dysfunction
The ubiquity of calculators leads the author to make a plea for a more rational metric system than the present MKS system. The author suggests a system based on counting to base 8 or 16 and on a new `foot' adjusted to make acceleration due to gravity exactly \(32 \text{ feet/sec}^2\) as a more appropriate basis for physical units. The predecimal metric systems have their idiosyncracies but they had evolved to meet the needs of society and decimal systems did not really catch on for time or angles. However, the advantages of an existing almost universal system are at present overwhelming and any change, however rational, seems unlikely for a long time. One minor point: French thinkers come in for some criticism but it should be pointed out that ordinary citizens in France use une livre to mean 500 gms, just as their German counterparts use ein Pfund.
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