How Many?

Units of measure and conversions from one system to another. Boring topics, right? Only if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading Russ Rowlett’s A Dictionary of Units of Measurement, where he explains everything from a (a symbol for year) to zoll (the traditional German inch). You can also read Fred Baldwin’s popular review of Rowlett’s dictionary: Mickey by Mickey, Twip by Twip.

But wait, you say this has nothing to do with birds? You would be mostly right, of course, except that I had occasion to access this site while writing a scientific paper on birds, so I figured that it qualified as an honorary addition to Birds Etcetera.