Re: ASCII and Unicode lifespan

From: Patrick Andries (patrick.andries@xcential.com)
Date: Wed May 18 2005 - 07:40:09 CDT

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    Raymond Mercier a écrit :

    However, while we are having fun with standards, can someone explain why the length of A4 paper (European not U.S.) 29.7 cm, is identical to the Roman foot ?

    Are you sure ? I'm not sure we exactly know, I have seen 29.64 cm, but I think it differed in areas and in periods.

    Coincidence, or the product of sideways thinking by some eurocrat ?

    A4, I believe, is German (DIN) in origin before being an international standard (ISO). It is I believe a pure coincidence that the foot and the length A4 are approximatively equal since the base of the ISO A paper size series is the A0 format whose area is 1 m². By successive division respecting the ratio of √2, you get A4 to be 297mm × 210 mm.

    http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Format_des_feuilles_de_papier

    P. A.

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