Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Introduction to the metric system

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. SNOW joe decker ^{talk to me} 23:57, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Introduction to the metric system

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Simple case of a fork of metric system. — RHaworth (talk · contribs) 21:45, 11 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. This is not a "simple case". The metric system is a subject that is known to have stymied generations of students in non-metric countries. This article is an honest attempt to present an accessible, non-technical introduction to the subject. In that sense it is not essentially different from Introduction to M-theory, Introduction to entropy, Introduction to evolution, Introduction to viruses, and many other "Introduction to ..." articles. Yes, in a sense they are article forks, but not all forks are evil. POV forks should be deleted; they are an attempt to get around our neutral point of view policy, but that is not the case here. And forks that (usually unintentionally) simply duplicate existing articles should be merged and redirected. But this is obviously not a simple duplication. --Lambiam 22:04, 11 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. I overhauled the article Metric system a few months ago. I was worried that it was too high-brow and as it gets 4k hits a day, I felt that a complementary article was needed, so I wrote the article Introduction to the metric system. I have deliberately targeted the two articles at different audiences - one at people who have a solid scientific background and the other at people whose scientific background is minimal. I agree that there is a certain amount of duplication, but I did write both and I did take the photograph that appears in the lede of both. Martinvl (talk) 22:20, 11 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

keep—this article fits into a pattern of many, many, many (i was pleasantly surprised to be able to write so many manies) other "introduction to" articles on quite technical subjects that require, for wp to function properly as an encyclopedia, to be written at different levels for different audiences. think of the poor person who wants to know what a centimetre is compared to a metre and reads something like The base units used in the metric system must be realisable, ideally with reference to natural phenomena rather than unique artifacts. or think of the physics student who needs to know that In 1901, Giorgi showed that by adding an electrical unit as a fourth base unit, the various anomalies in electromagnetic systems could be resolved. The metre-kilogram-second-coulomb (MKSC) and metre-kilogram-second-ampere (MKSA) systems are examples of such systems but has to wade through simple explanations of what kinds of things are measured in units of various kinds. both this article and the technical article on the metric system are necessary, and neither is mergeable into the other.— alf.laylah.wa.laylah (talk) 00:23, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Speedy keep per the precedent of the other "Introduction to ... " articles. Imzadi 1979 → 00:47, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Speedy Keep Simple case of failure to read WP:CFORK which states, "If the content fork was unjustified, the more recent article should be merged back into the main article.". There is therefore no case for deletion. Warden (talk) 12:39, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Science-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 15:20, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Keep, suggest early SNOW close - We need more of these for younger, unfamiliar, or less educated readers to be able to grasp concepts that are often irrational or abstract. Could we get one for quantum physics next? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ ^τ _¢ 16:25, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

comment—we both have one on quantum physics and do not have one on quantum physics until such point as someone clicks on a link and resolves the quantum state of the article. (support snow close).— alf.laylah.wa.laylah (talk) 16:34, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Keep—Parallels such subject matter introductions as are listed under Category:Introductions. There's no good reason to delete this article. Regards, RJH (talk) 19:02, 12 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Excellent article, useful guide for inhabitants of countries that do not use the metric system. Xxanthippe (talk) 21:45, 12 October 2011 (UTC).[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.