Quote:
Originally Posted by Piwoslaw
If a unit is named after someone, then that someone most likely had something to do with that unit or that field in general.
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I actually do know that (got degrees in physics & computer engineering, even :-), but it still makes no sense at all. In either system, you still have to do the rote memorization to know what all the names mean. (Of course it does make sense if you dump the names, and stick with the four fundamental quantities to do dimensional analysis.) The British units often do make more sense - a foot's about the length of the average man's foot (OK, it's sexist :-)), an inch the length of the first joint of a thumb, a mile's a handy thousand steps, a cup or a pint a handy size for a drink, etc. Go to metric, and the basic units aren't nearly as useful for everyday things. What can you relate a meter or a gram to, in the everyday world? Liters are too big for most of us to drink, a horsepower's easier to get a feel for than a kilowatt...