LF: Units (was Re: JA GRRABBERS (sic) at a same time)

[John Rabson <john.rabson@numeo.fr>]

LF,

50 years ago, I went to Reading University to learn about physics and 
chemistry. Our physics lectures were all done with CGS units. One of the 
professors went through Dimensional Analysis very thoroughly, but when I asked 
why capacitance had two different values depending on whether we were in the 
magnetic or electrostatic mode he got very shirty. In our standard textbook 
(written of course by him) he refused even to mention MKS although it was 
already coming into use.

My roommate was in a worse state. He had of course had a normal English 
education in feet and inches but had done physics in MKS. He could not 
understand why he had to learn these two new  systems which both went under the 
name of CGS. He got a First anyway.

John F5VLF