Measurements, one might say, are a simple quantification of the thing measured. In fact, to some, the measurement itself is a science. “Measurement” of something is the comparison of one of its attributes to a calibrated, standard. The standard itself is the subject of rigorous objective study. One outcome of that study is the proper calibration of accurate instruments, themselves reflecting the standard to within a known margin of error. And, the margin of error is closely focused to within a few percentage points of probable uncertainty. Thus the three faces of measurement as a science are the measurement, the measurements' margin of error and the degree of confidence you have in it. Through the ages there have been some fascinating stories behind the development of metrology – the study of measurement. In the modern world the trend toward standardization is inevitable. It does not follow on from the historic and anomalous. In all our endeavors we need to meet exacting standards. Our work needs to be accountable, measurable, observable, and repeatable. Precise figures to many, many decimal places or exact figures to a finite definition are needed in everything. Only if we have standards can we ensure fairness, repeatability, and ethical commerce, among other things which promote trust and good social relations. So, we need to ensure that where non‐standard measures exist they can be translated into globally recognized entities. The translation of one standard unit of a measure into another standard or type of measurement, are the stuff and business of online conversion web sites.
With these ideas in mind reviewing the web site OnlineConversion.com at first appeared mundane. Under the surface it was anything but mundane. There was of course the expected range of weights, mass, volume, length, area, velocity and a whole gamut of other measurements. As expected these were all set into easy‐use calculator style pages. The list on the front page is inclusive and directs the user straight to the page they need to perform their calculation. As with most of these conversion sites, and there are plenty, the whole thing appeared rather sterile. There are many pages of standard conversions to and from imperial and other local measurements and Standard Units. The calculator form is simple throughout. Put the quantity you want to convert into Convert What Quantity? Enter a measurement type in the From column. Select the To measurement type in the other column. Next press Convert and up pops the answer in the Converted text box. Simple, efficient, boring; what more do you want to do on a conversion site? Not a lot more. The essence of pretty much all conversion sites is about – yes, you guessed, straightforward conversions. On balance, given this rather superficial approach OnlineConversion.com does pretty well against the others. Most conversion sites tend to focus on a particular conversion angle like cooking, physics, currency and so on. Unlike the rest the authors of this site have taken a pride in trying to tackle conversions for all walks of life, science and amusement. They have set out much more than the obvious measurement conversions and certainly go beyond SI units as a single focus for standardization.
On closer examination of the site some real pearls become apparent. OnlineConversion.com has a great list of cooking conversions. These are usually restricted to cookery and recipe web sites. I loved the measurement of butter. One “stick” seemed a fun amount. Even more unexpected was the clothes measurements conversion page. If you were confused about your spouse's measurements before, you can be discombobulated in a whole range of national size conversions after seeing this page. On the Fun Stuff page are a few more interesting calculations. Calculate your days to retirement, your blood alcohol content and to/from Roman Numerals and whole numbers. More fun is the calculation that allows you to work out your weight on other planets. It was also fun to find out I happen to be 9.25 years old in dog years. Interesting, my name in Pig Latin seems to be “amonDay uyGay” That made me laugh out loud! You can convert “English to Haxor” and visa versa – nothing to do with hackers or Swedish witches apparently. It is a code, of sorts, which you can actually read. There are other amusements too but I will leave them to your own explorations. In fact measures of the most obscure types can be found alongside some of the more mundane entries. On the same page as the Computers and Electronics link you can find Blood Sugar conversions; Meeting Room Sizes and an Euler Angle and Quaternion Conversion Calculator – whatever that is! And, believe it or not, on the same page you can find American nail sizes – just to drive the point home.
The range of pages examining the background of “conversion” is another refreshing angle that is almost unique to this site. These pages, found in the FAQ section, furnished me with some insights into the science of metrology – which is where we came in. For example, the article on the humble “Meter” examines its history in some detail and provides a good timeline. The article on the SI system goes into, among other things, the cultural background behind the system. These and other discussions provide the rounded approach that I did not find on other sites to anywhere near the same degree. After surveying some eighteen sites on this subject I found no other that provided the breadth of conversions or the depth of explanation and support of the detail. OnlineConversion.com provides a rounded and satisfying treatment of the subject. For basic conversion it is very good. For more esoteric conversion it is pretty much in a class on its own. The site is easy to use and navigate and contains interesting insights that are piercing and accurate.
There are some things I would like to have seen on the site. On ConvertIt.com (www.convertit.com/). I found an interesting array of formula and examples. To finish off each calculator page with some formula related to the calculator and some explanation or example data would be helpful to many students. It would have made the site even more interesting for me too as I like a diversion when working with figures. There was a really good set of calculators for time, including find your Chinese Zodiac sign. Unfortunately, here was no world time calculator such as provided by Worldtimeserver.com (www.worldtimeserver.com/). However, considering how many world time clocks there are, this is a small omission. Finally, there is one other thing the site cannot do. How do you cope if you do not have internet access when you need a conversion? You use the other application with an impeccable pedigree in this field. On the somewhat eccentric JoshMadison site (www.joshmadison.com) is a conversion application I have been using for many years. Convert is a simple programme with a wide range of conversions. It can be used on most computers (Windows, Linux and Unix with Wine) and it does not require installation – you can even run it from a memory stick. According to the site Convert is being used in over a hundred countries and NASA are using it off‐world too. So, if you want to do conversions when online use OnlineConversion.com; venture off‐line and stay converted with Convert. Then you have all the angles covered.
