> scientists rather than politicians

We take the time to Do It Right, which is why I'm so slow replying to e-mails. What I'm waiting for is for some (*ahhk* *phht*) politician to hear that the metre was originally defined in terms of the distance from the equator to the North Pole through Paris, then try to deny Johnnie Foreigner the use of the Greenwich Meridian for navigational purposes ("It's mine, I tell you, mine, dribble wurble").