Its good to see that in the great GIANT SQUID story the BBC no longer trust the standard units of measurement, be they imperial or metric. Instead, as any good news story will have it, the all new SI Units* are being used. In this case the squid is being measured in Double Decker Buses.
But much like the fictional length between King Alfred’s nose and his fingertips, the foundation of this SI measurement system is in itself now non-existent. The Routemaster bus used clearly in this picture as the standard unit length of “quite big” itself is rarely seen on the streets of London, and certainly not elsewhere. So is its position as an SI unit in danger. Or is there some sort of platonic, ur-measurement in the Routemaster that will remain in human brains forever.
For your information my the way, the SI Units I am aware of:
AREA:
Football Pitch**
Wales (Predominantly used to describe areas affected by disasters)
LENGTH:
Double Decker Buses
Football Pitches (again)
The circumference of the world
HEAT:
Temperature of the North Pole
Temperature at noon at the equator
The temperature of the sun
VOLUME (lxbxh):
Albert Hall / St Paul’s Cathedral
VOLUME:(Loudness):
A Rock Concert
FREQUENCY:
The beating of a hummingbird’s wings.
I have clearly missed a large number here, WHICH IS WHAT THE COMMENTS SECTION IS FOR. I am all for this programme by the BBC, ITV last night seemed remarkably retrograde when trying to describe how far five metres was. Admittedly it does not easily fit into the above SI units very well, but nevertheless saying it was the distance between the reporter, and a car about five metres away seemed far too obvious. And no, the car was not moving quickly towards him, worst luck.
*Standard Intuitive.
**In itself amusing as there is NO STANDARD FOOTBALL PITCH SIZE.