Obituary for US NIST official
pat
***************************************************************
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/21/AR2009092103625.html
Daniel V. DeSimone Metric Supporter
Daniel V. DeSimone, 79, a government official who wrote a 13-volume
report in 1971 that concluded that the United States should adopt the
metric system, died of cancer Sept. 15 at his son's home in Longwood,
Fla.
Mr. DeSimone was the head of the Office of Invention and Innovation in
the old Bureau of Standards when he did the study, taking testimony
from consumers, business and labor groups.
"It is absurd to quantify the costs of metrification over a transition
period without considering the longer-term benefits that might
result," he told the New York Times in 1970. "How will other countries
think of us -- will they want to do business with a non-metric
country?"
The report recommended that the United States adopt the metric system
to replace its system of weights and measures for trade and commerce.
Congress approved the report but suggested voluntary compliance, and
executive orders directing transition studies followed. Most Americans
have not adopted the change.
ad_icon
Mr. DeSimone was born in Chicago and graduated from the University of
Illinois. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War and
graduated from New York University's law school in 1959.
He worked at Bell Laboratories before moving to Washington during the
Kennedy administration. He worked in what is now called the National
Institute of Standards and Technology until 1971, when he served as
executive director of the Federal Council for Science and Technology
in the White House. Between 1973 to 1980, he was deputy director of
the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment.
In the early 1980s, he was chief executive first of the American
Association of Engineering Societies and then of the World Federation
of Engineering Organizations.
Mr. DeSimone lived in Arlington County until the mid-1990s, when he
moved to San Jose, Costa Rica. He moved to his son's home in Florida
early this year.
His marriage to Virginia DeSimone ended in divorce.
Survivors include three children, Jane DeSimone Dittmar of
Charlottesville, Dan DeSimone of Washington and James DeSimone of
Longwood; two brothers; a sister; and eight grandchildren.
-- Patricia Sullivan
***************************************************************
Janis Papanagnou
> Quote from Washington post
> [...]
> Daniel V. DeSimone Metric Supporter
>
> "It is absurd to quantify the costs of metrification over a transition
> period without considering the longer-term benefits that might
> result," he told the New York Times in 1970.
Today we see that benefits must already be seen within a 3-month period
to be generally adopted by industries.
> [...]
>
> The report recommended that the United States adopt the metric system
> to replace its system of weights and measures for trade and commerce.
> Congress approved the report but suggested voluntary compliance, [...]
Voluntary compliance means that nothing will significantly change if
there's no short term ROI.
Janis