| RefNo | HSF/2/1/105 |
| Previous numbers | 32.8.90 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Copy letter from J [John] Herschel], to Colonel [James Francis] Tennant |
| Creator | Herschel; John (1837-1921); British army officer and astronomer |
| Date | 21 November 1869 |
| Description | He is not sorry that Tennant 'takes up the gloves' for the metric system and John aims to defend himself from a charge of prejudice. He compares and contrasts the metric system with 'nondescript' English and other measures, not allowing that the metric system tied to the French unit is superior. He continues to discuss this, thinking that a decimal system is desirable, but change is not. Change of notation would be impossible without a change in unit and there is no absurdity in adapting the national unit to the decimal system. He then discusses the adoption of a universal system, believing that America and Australia would not take the metre as a unit. John relates his own experience and cannot get accustomed to a metrical basis; he always has to convert into feet and inches to grasp length and he rarely troubles to consider weights. He identifies himself as an opponent of the metric system, objecting to the practices in writing it. He wonders if the foot-pound will ever yield to the metre-kilogramme, and whether English speaking nations would relinquish their measures. In England, support for metric measurement is among a limited section of scientific experimentalists, of whom there are perhaps only ten individuals in India. |
| Extent | 4p. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA7955 | Herschel; John (1837 - 1921); Colonel; military engineer, surveyor and astronomer | 1837 - 1921 |