Measurement

Question

How did they come up with the names and the measurements?

Answer

Hello No, Is that your real name? No matter; I have thought about it some, and our units of measurement owe their names to several different sources. First, many of our units are named after scientists. The watt, for instance, is named after the British scientist James Watt. Also in this category are the newton, the degree Celsius, the degree Fahrenheit, and many others. Other units owe their names to other languages. For instance, the mile owes its name to the Latin phrase "mille passuum," meaning "one thousand (of) paces." A pace was approximately five feet (ask one of your parents to take two steps and then measure the distance.) so the first mile was about 5000 feet. Today's mile is 5280 feet. Both the inch and the ounce owe their names to the Latin word "uncia," meaning one-twelfth. The troy pound has 12 ounces. Now the foot owes its name to the human foot. Obviously, there are many other units that I haven't discussed, so you may want to go to the library and do your own research. Hope this helps, Joe McCollum Information Technology Specialist Forest Inventory and Analysis