From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.comp.tex.context/114276 Path: news.gmane.io!.POSTED.blaine.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Aditya Mahajan via ntg-context Newsgroups: gmane.comp.tex.context Subject: Re: OT world history: other measuring systems? Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2022 12:27:38 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <7r18p5p7-46pn-q61-p1op-80q9srp9r9r5@hzvpu.rqh> References: <9dd4626b-e9e5-b2a9-66b4-47014e1fc195@fiee.net> Reply-To: mailing list for ConTeXt users Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="-830189494-1641255856-1643131659=:525267" Injection-Info: ciao.gmane.io; posting-host="blaine.gmane.org:116.202.254.214"; logging-data="30453"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@ciao.gmane.io" Cc: Aditya Mahajan To: Henning Hraban Ramm via ntg-context Original-X-From: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Tue Jan 25 18:29:34 2022 Return-path: Envelope-to: gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane-mx.org Original-Received: from zapf.boekplan.nl ([5.39.185.232] helo=zapf.ntg.nl) by ciao.gmane.io with esmtps (TLS1.3:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.92) (envelope-from ) id 1nCPdO-0007hg-16 for gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane-mx.org; Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:29:34 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zapf.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 992E528597B; Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:28:50 +0100 (CET) X-Virus-Scanned: Debian amavisd-new at zapf.boekplan.nl Original-Received: from zapf.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zapf.ntg.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id l0-y1tUHw4kj; Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:28:49 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from zapf.ntg.nl (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zapf.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id A2E93282B65; Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:28:49 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zapf.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id E52D6282B65 for ; Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:28:47 +0100 (CET) X-Virus-Scanned: Debian amavisd-new at zapf.boekplan.nl Original-Received: from zapf.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zapf.ntg.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id JrP-QRE2VBpe for ; Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:28:46 +0100 (CET) Received-SPF: Softfail (mailfrom) identity=mailfrom; client-ip=132.206.73.2; helo=orford.cim.mcgill.ca; envelope-from=adityam@umich.edu; receiver= Original-Received: from orford.cim.mcgill.ca (orford.cim.mcgill.ca [132.206.73.2]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by zapf.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 88AE6282033 for ; Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:28:45 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from reinforce.cim.mcgill.ca (reinforce.cim.mcgill.ca [132.206.74.80]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange X25519 server-signature RSA-PSS (2048 bits) server-digest SHA256) (No client certificate requested) (Authenticated sender: adityam) by orford.cim.mcgill.ca (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 94248FF3B5; Tue, 25 Jan 2022 12:28:44 -0500 (EST) In-Reply-To: <9dd4626b-e9e5-b2a9-66b4-47014e1fc195@fiee.net> X-BeenThere: ntg-context@ntg.nl X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: mailing list for ConTeXt users List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Original-Sender: "ntg-context" Xref: news.gmane.io gmane.comp.tex.context:114276 Archived-At: This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. ---830189494-1641255856-1643131659=:525267 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE On Tue, 25 Jan 2022, Henning Hraban Ramm via ntg-context wrote: > Hi all, > just out of curiosity and since some of you are knowledgable in many=20 > fields: Were there widely accepted measuring systems in Asia before the= =20 > introduction of the imperial or metric system? In Europe there was a=20 > mess of local miles, feet, cubits, inches etc.; why didn=E2=80=99t "we" s= tick to=20 > the Roman system? All you need to do is look at the definitions of roman imperial units to un= derstand why we didn't stick to that: An inch was the width of the base of the thumb, a foot, well length of a fo= ot, a fathom was the width of outstretched arms, yard was the length of the= man's belt, mile was 1000 paces of marching roman soldiers, and so on.=20 In India, from what I am aware, the pre-imperial units of measurements had = similar origins as imperial. Length was based on width of fingers, cubit (a= lso used in other civilizations of the time), person-height and so on. As w= ith the imperial units, these definitions were not uniform and went through= a uniformization process in the middle ages. However, India moved to imper= ial units with colonization, and adopted metric system after Independence.= =20 Some of the units, particularly for measurement of land area, are still in = use as they are effectively codified in the land records. Wikipedia has som= e summary of the ancient and medieval systems in India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_units_of_measurement But it got more complicated than that (particularly for time). See, for exa= mple: https://sites.google.com/site/mathematicsmiscellany/time-measurement-in-anc= ient-india There is also this fascinating book which covers the non-European history o= f mathematics (a lot of which in ancient times was to do with units and mea= surements but more importantly, calculations): https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691135267/the-crest-of-the-= peacock Aditya ---830189494-1641255856-1643131659=:525267 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: inline X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19f X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX18KSWYgeW91ciBxdWVzdGlvbiBpcyBvZiBpbnRlcmVz dCB0byBvdGhlcnMgYXMgd2VsbCwgcGxlYXNlIGFkZCBhbiBlbnRyeSB0byB0aGUgV2lraSEKCm1h aWxsaXN0IDogbnRnLWNvbnRleHRAbnRnLm5sIC8gaHR0cDovL3d3dy5udGcubmwvbWFpbG1hbi9s aXN0aW5mby9udGctY29udGV4dAp3ZWJwYWdlICA6IGh0dHA6Ly93d3cucHJhZ21hLWFkZS5ubCAv IGh0dHA6Ly9jb250ZXh0LmFhbmhldC5uZXQKYXJjaGl2ZSAgOiBodHRwczovL2JpdGJ1Y2tldC5v cmcvcGhnL2NvbnRleHQtbWlycm9yL2NvbW1pdHMvCndpa2kgICAgIDogaHR0cDovL2NvbnRleHRn YXJkZW4ubmV0Cl9fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19f X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fCg== ---830189494-1641255856-1643131659=:525267--