Interesting as well that litre/liter isn’t even a “proper” SI unit; it’s just a nickname for a cubic decimetre/decimeter held over from France’s original metric system.
I also like to imagine that the path to working for the BIPM is not always a glorious one: “Jacques, you have spent the last three years of your post-doctoral fellowship trying to settle on the units you wish to use in your abstract. We think we have found the perfect place for your skillset…”
Common name is proper, just like metric tonne is a megagram. For this they needed a simpler name for everyday volume, which also scales to millilitre etc.
Interesting as well that litre/liter isn’t even a “proper” SI unit; it’s just a nickname for a cubic decimetre/decimeter held over from France’s original metric system.
I also like to imagine that the path to working for the BIPM is not always a glorious one: “Jacques, you have spent the last three years of your post-doctoral fellowship trying to settle on the units you wish to use in your abstract. We think we have found the perfect place for your skillset…”
Common name is proper, just like metric tonne is a megagram. For this they needed a simpler name for everyday volume, which also scales to millilitre etc.