Measurement & else

How many times have we listened to words such as "inches" or "miles", which we are not accustomed to use. Where are these measurement units used? and, why are there different measurement systems? But lets go one step at a time.  The United States is one of the few countries in the world that does not use the metric system, because it uses the so-called Anglo-Saxon system of units where the kilogram, liter and kilometer are replaced by other measures that the less we understand. There are different ways of measuring weight, volume, distance and temperature, among other things, and they tend to be grouped within different systems. In almost all the world we use the metric system, but the United States is one of the few countries that does not use it. And this has a historical reason. [Wood engraving, which is from 1800, that shows    the new  decimals units that were  legal  in France since  November 4 1800.] ...

We have spent our entire lives looking at the wrong map: the Mercator projection ,which is the most frequently one used on the world maps. It enormously distorts the size of the countries or territories closest to the poles (essentially, those that are in the northern hemisphere) and, in comparison with it, it minimizes those that are closed to Ecuador, especially, South America and Africa.  That explains why we have been mistakenly thinking that Greenland is similar in size to Africa, when in fact it is fifteen times smaller! [ Mercator projection of the world ] Moreover, a new projection to measure the countries was used at the beginning of the eighties in order to solve Mercator projection´s problematic:  Gall–Peters projection . However, it was a terrible idea because it incurred a series of topographical errors. [ The Gall–Peters projection of the world map ] This distorting effect is inevitable due to the Earth is a sphere and not a...

Hello everyone and welcome to "Measurement & else"! I am excited to establish this blog, because it is the second blog that I  write about mathematics and I enjoyed writing the last one. This blog will be focused on : measurement. Sometimes,  mathematics can be boring, but it will not my purpose. Mesurement has got interesting facts, curiosities that some of us do not know and the most important: we can measure almost everything that sorround us and thanks to that, we can interpret the reality in order to deal with issues that we can find in our society and environment. The main objective of this blog is to present the measurement from a interesting point of view and also, from a didactic one. There will be several analysis of articles and resources than can be used in Primary Education classes. The mathematics and measurement are fun and it will be reflected in this blog so I invite you to share your opinion in it! I hope you enjoy reading my entries!