Talk:Metre Convention
 | This article contains a translation of Metre convention from en.wikipedia. |
----
Emphasis of the convention[change source]
Hello Martin, I hope you will allow me to help you with the development of this article.
Can we first of all try to understand exactly what the main purpose of the convention was - or is? You introduced the convention as being: "an agreement between 17 countries to use the same weights and measures." Everything that I've read about it suggests that the emphasis of the agreement was more on sharing the costs and the burdens of maintaining and administering the prototypes and the standards of (specifically) the metric system units rather than on actually using some common system. Do you have a reference suggesting the emphasis was more on the use of a common system than on maintaining metric standards centrally? Here are some typical descriptions that I've seen: BIPM, NIST. Centaur (talk) 21:46, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
- I've made a start by rewording the introduction to reflect the sources. Please tell me what you think. Centaur (talk) 20:16, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- You have far too much emphasis on the BIPM and not enough on the CGPM or the CIPM. Also, it is usual to leave the introduction to last so that it summarizes the contents of the article. Martinvl (talk) 20:39, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- There was an intro which didn't summarize the subject or reflect the current article content. All I did was replace it with one that I think better does. We can work on it as we evolve the article. Centaur (talk) 21:37, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- You have far too much emphasis on the BIPM and not enough on the CGPM or the CIPM. Also, it is usual to leave the introduction to last so that it summarizes the contents of the article. Martinvl (talk) 20:39, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- The prototype metre was not one metre long - it was the distance between two marks on a bar that was a little over a metre in length. Martinvl (talk) 20:41, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- Sorry, I over simplified it. I have corrected it now. Centaur (talk) 21:42, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- Everything in the lede should also be in the body of the article. Also, the lede should not have citations. That is why it is written last. It is best therefore if you leave off writing any more until the body of the article has been written. Martinvl (talk) 21:48, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- I didn't create the lead, one was already there, but it was unclear, even misleading, which is why I took the initiative. I agree that it should summarize the article contents, but there is no good reason why it should not evolve with the article. Centaur (talk) 22:07, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- Everything in the lede should also be in the body of the article. Also, the lede should not have citations. That is why it is written last. It is best therefore if you leave off writing any more until the body of the article has been written. Martinvl (talk) 21:48, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- Sorry, I over simplified it. I have corrected it now. Centaur (talk) 21:42, 25 February 2014 (UTC)
- The prototype metre was not one metre long - it was the distance between two marks on a bar that was a little over a metre in length. Martinvl (talk) 20:41, 25 February 2014 (UTC)