Re: Unités de mesure typographiques

[Jorge de Buen Unna <bardahl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jacques Andre wrote:

> Jean Fontaine wrote:
> >
> > Nous avons parlé récemment d'unités de mesure et de normes...

Tijuana, B. C., 14 de enero de 1998.

To enrich a little bit the list composed by Jean Fontaine, I like to add
some few facts about measurement units:

- The correction proposed by Hermann Bethold in 1879, which equals the
didot point to exactly 0,376 mm.

- The normalisation rule published by AFNOR in 1978, under the name «NF
Q 60-010»: 1 point = 0,25 mm.

- The same unit of measurement proposed under the name of «quart».
Perhaps, by Otl Aicher, among others.

- Finally, the idea exposed by Hoch, in 1967, which consists in
definitively sweeping away the concept of point.

All the preceding concepts, plus the others in the list by J. Fontaine
and the Postscript point (exactly 1/72 in.) mentioned by Jacques André,
are somehow applied nowadays in the graphic work. This is the chaos!

(I would have preferred to write the preceding lines in French, but my
French is even worst than my English. I?m truly sorry about that. What
about Spanish?)