On first arriving in the United States, one thing I simply failed to understand about the US is its clinging to incomprehensible forms of imperial measurement. Fluid ounces, Pounds etc caused me befuddlement; but evoking the most confusion, was the exclusive use of Fahrenheit during The Weather forecast. 40 degrees a COLD day, talk about a culture shock!
Granted, we Britons stick to a complicated mix of feet and metres, litres and our school teaching moved in to the logical world of Metric about three decades ago. Surely the country of modernity the New World could have moved on from something so anachronistic, by now?
Well, my opinion has kind of evolved a little - if only in regards to American dedication to Farenheit. The big difference between oC and oF is that Farenheit is it is a whole lot more precise - there are more Farenheit degrees for every degree of celsius (twice as many degrees F between boiling and freezing). I have found this really helpful in a city like New York where the weather changes like crazy - rapidly alternating, not just been seasonal extremes, but also between days and indeed, after hours.
This might seem obvious of course - the idiot-proof beauty of Centigrade is knowing that a hundred is boiling and freezing is zero. However, with familiarity Farenheit is just as easy to understand. Once you have a few meteographical yardsticks that you can contemplate, it is easy to comprehend. Freezing is 32oF, in the Spring you need to know 50oF = 10oC , you know it's hot when it's in the 80s (87oF=30oC), 212oF degrees in water and it should be bubbling (that's boiling point) if you live in Canada in January, you know things are really bad when the two converge (at negative 40oC).
However, Farenheit is not so useful when your in the Kitchen: precision is not so necessary when you want to decide how much heat you need to bake a Potato, or more likely, work on your Pumpkin Pie. In that case, I recommend Celsius.
Granted, we Britons stick to a complicated mix of feet and metres, litres and our school teaching moved in to the logical world of Metric about three decades ago. Surely the country of modernity the New World could have moved on from something so anachronistic, by now?
Well, my opinion has kind of evolved a little - if only in regards to American dedication to Farenheit. The big difference between oC and oF is that Farenheit is it is a whole lot more precise - there are more Farenheit degrees for every degree of celsius (twice as many degrees F between boiling and freezing). I have found this really helpful in a city like New York where the weather changes like crazy - rapidly alternating, not just been seasonal extremes, but also between days and indeed, after hours.
This might seem obvious of course - the idiot-proof beauty of Centigrade is knowing that a hundred is boiling and freezing is zero. However, with familiarity Farenheit is just as easy to understand. Once you have a few meteographical yardsticks that you can contemplate, it is easy to comprehend. Freezing is 32oF, in the Spring you need to know 50oF = 10oC , you know it's hot when it's in the 80s (87oF=30oC), 212oF degrees in water and it should be bubbling (that's boiling point) if you live in Canada in January, you know things are really bad when the two converge (at negative 40oC).
However, Farenheit is not so useful when your in the Kitchen: precision is not so necessary when you want to decide how much heat you need to bake a Potato, or more likely, work on your Pumpkin Pie. In that case, I recommend Celsius.
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