Hi Mike --
At 04:52 PM 4/5/2009, Mike S wrote:
>Technically the Systeme Internationale started 
>in 1960, because that year saw a change in name, 
>but the basis for international electrical standards existed long before.

Well, sure.

>The coulomb, going back to its first definition 
>by the 1st IEC in 1881, has always been a derived unit.

Quoting Wikipedia...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulomb
>Historical note
>
>The ampere was historically a derived unit�being 
>defined as 1 coulomb per second. Therefore the 
>coulomb, rather than the ampere, was the SI base electrical unit.
>
>In 1960 the SI made the ampere the base unit.[5]
>
>5 - Kowalski, Ludwik, "A Short History of the SI 
>Units in Electricity", pp. 97-99 vol 24, The Physics Teacher, Feb 1986

Fight with Kowalski, not with me.  I was taught, 
in the '50s, amperes in terms of coulombs and not 
the other way around.  And honestly, I've no 
interest in a peeing contest...just wanna ride my 
moooooooooooooooootor-sickle.  And try to show 
some of these folks how to track down electrical 
problems in their vans.  I'm not trying to insult 
metrology, just not get involved in the stricter aspects of it.

David

  --
David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'89 Po' White Star "Scamp"