[LMB] OT: measurements was pizza dough

[Mark Allums]

Raye Johnsen wrote:
> --- Mark Allums <mark at allums.com> wrote:
> 
>> SAE measurements actually make more sense for some
>> things.  32nds of an
>> inch are better than millimeters for measuring,
>> e.g., nuts and bolts,
>> Fahrenheit is better than Celsius for measuring body
>> temperature and air
>> temperature, I could go on for quite some time with
>> other examples.
> 
> Kindly do, as I don't see how 7/16 of an inch (an
> awkward fraction in anyone's language) is better than
> an even 10mm, or how 98.6 is easier to work with than
> a plain 37.

The 7/16 number only *seems* awkward.  Actually, I was using 32nds as my 
example, not 16ths.  To use the measure, one does not need to bother 
with the denominator at all, just the count, e.g., 5, 7, 8, 13, etc. 
Wrench makers make it more difficult by converting 4/16ths to 1/4, 
8/16ths to 1/2.  Really, they should have left it at 8.  32nds are finer 
than millimeters.  Millimeters are too course for fine work (and 1/10ths 
of a millimeter are usually too fine.)

The case for Fahrenheit vs. Celsius is a little less straightforward, I 
suppose, but it is not coincidence that body temperature falls at about 
100 on the Fahrenheit scale.  0F was considered about the coldest you 
could get using standard methods, and the scale of 180 degrees between 
melting and boiling was chosen partly for practical reasons, partly for 
aesthetic reasons.  Like 32nds of an inch, Fahrenheit is a little bit 
finer of a scale than Celsius, and allows for a little bit more precision.

A lot of people don't realize that the English system of liquid and 
volume measures is not as arbitrary or strange as all that.  It is in 
fact a binary system.

Mouthful (about 1/2 ounce)
Jigger or fluid ounce - 2 mouthfuls
Jack or Jackpot - 2 jiggers
Gill - 2 jacks
Cup - 2 gills
Pint - 2 cups
Quart - 2 pints
Pottle  - 2 quarts
Gallon - 2 pottles
Peck - 2 gallons
Kenning - 2 pecks
Bushel - 2 kennings
Cask - 2 bushels
Barrel - 2 casks
Hogshead - 2 barrels
Butt or Pipe - 2 hogsheads
Tun - 2 butts (about a ton, 2048 pounds)

(with help from Wikipedia)

--Mark Allums