> From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> bs.pearce@xxxxxxx wrote:
>> What is A4 in real english?
>>
> 210x297mm, roughly 8 1/4 x 11 3/4"
>
> The pagan sophisticates of Europe and most of the rest of the world
> think that calling paper by its actual size, in whatever units, is
> less
> cool than giving it meaningless shortcut names. Notice that all the
> supposed rationality of the metric system gives rise to completely
> random seeming sizes in this case.
Ah Moose, how unlike you to spout off about something you know nothing
about. :-)
Did you notice that the aspect ratio of of A4 paper happens to be the
square root of two? Didn't that spark enough intellectual curiosity to
google or wikipedia it?
The A-B-C paper size system (a.k.a. "ISO 216") is brilliantly rational
(for something that is based on irrational numbers... :-) And the US
and Canada are the *only* countries in the world that do not use it.
A0 paper has an area of one square metre. That's pretty cool to start
with. But then each increment has half the area of the larger one,
*and the exact same aspect ratio*. This means that a postage stamp in
A10 size (26mmx37mm) can be blown up to a square meter on A0 paper,
without cropping. But it also means that the weight of a ream of A4
paper is exactly half of a ream of A3 paper, for example. Or that,
knowing the "basis weight" of any paper (grams per square metre) will
tell you the actual weight of any cut sheet.
But the US is #1. They don't need no stinking good ideas from the rest
of the world. End of argument.
I tell you, if the US were less arrogant, and weren't so good at
printing little bits of green paper, they'd be using the A-B-C system
as well. Saves the rest of the world at least 10% on printing costs,
not to mention 10% fewer trees cut down for the same number of sheets
of paper.
Tomorrow's lesson: how the US suffers from not using the metric system.
:::: I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's
business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female
the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of
continual becoming, with a goal in front and not behind. -- George
Bernard Shaw ::::
:::: Jan Steinman http://www.EcoReality.org ::::
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