Fremen water measurement (literjons, drachms, etc)
Posted: 12 Dec 2022 16:32
I decided to copy the summary of my results to the top of the first post to make matters a bit easier. Below, you'll find the process of how I revised and worked this out.
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Fremen water measurement is base-32, so that each unit consists of 32 parts of the next smaller unit. The units are:
liters > fluid ounces > drachms > minims
1 minim in Dune is less than a single drop of water, while the rest are similar to their real-world counterparts. I estimate that minims are smaller than a normal drop by 60%, and if this relation differs (40-60%), L/fl oz/dr would have to be larger as an offset (20-0%), allowing a 5% error (±1 minim). All this is based on analysis of the text and contextual knowledge. It was Frank Herbert's style to leave intentional blanks, giving us just enough clues to connect the dots, as I just did. So to be more specific, the deathstill produced 33 liters, 0 fl oz (0/32), 7 drachms (7/1024), and 3 minims (3/32,768).
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Sometimes I focus in and research particular details, and this is one of those times. We're given hints as to how Fremen measured water, but how do we flesh out their measurement system? There seems to be a lack of info on this. Other than a reddit thread, there's the Dune Wiki page on Water Rings, which contains info from the Encyclopedia which I'd rather avoid.
So, going by the evidence in the original text, contextual knowledge and a bit of reasoning:
After Jamis' death, the deathstill produced 33 liters, 7 drachms, and 3/32s. Since a drachm is divided into 32, some comments I've read presume that a liter was 32 drachms, so that the smallest unit was 1/1024 of a liter, or just under 1 milliliter. But, this is incorrect, because one of their units was left out of this figure. This makes sense on multiple points: first of all, a real-world drachm is a division of a fluid ounce, which suggests that its Dune equivalent likewise divides a unit smaller than a liter; especially since there are close to 32 fluid ounces in a liter, which fits the pattern. Secondly, Lady Jessica refers to "superb accuracy in water measurement", and the smallest unit being close to 1 mL doesn't quite cut it. However, if we add a fluid ounce (or whatever the unknown unit is called), then a drachm would be about 1 mL, and the smallest unit would be 1/32 of a mL (thereabouts).
There is a difficulty, in that 1 mL contains only 20 drops of water, not 32, but this can be explained away. First, there's the difference between 1/1000 and 1/1024, and the difference of metric rounding, which should bring it up a little (eta-insignificant); it's also likely that a Fremen drop/minim would be smaller than its real-world counterpart, bringing the number higher. But more importantly, we can assume that Fremen units are somewhat different than their real-world counterparts. This is a reasonable assumption, given that Frank Herbert made sure to transform things from Old Earth, and we see that in the Fremen's hybridization of the Standard and Metric systems, combining easy division with even scalability, borrowing from the strengths of both systems. Further evidence that the units are somewhat different is the amount from the deathstill, just over 33 liters, despite the fact that the adult male human body contains 40-45 liters (eta-this can be explained away without scaling up units). Even accounting for water loss from being killed in combat, the figure seems too low for real-world metric liters, especially given Fremen prevention of losses and the high efficiency of their deathstills (both of which are safe assumptions). Thus, it seems that Dune liters are somewhat larger by approximately 1/4 to 1/5. Going by this, we find the measurements add up correctly. That brings us close to the amount of water in the body (minus losses); it also closes the gap nicely on the smallest measurement.
So, the Fremen liter is roughly 20-25% larger than our liters (15-30% at least/most), which is divided into 32 fluid ounces(?), which are then divided into 32 drachms, each containing 32 drops of water. Measuring down to less than a drop (minim?) would certainly qualify as superb accuracy, and fits what we know of Fremen water discipline and craftsmanship.
Questions/comments/corrections welcome! eta: corrections made, updates below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fremen water measurement is base-32, so that each unit consists of 32 parts of the next smaller unit. The units are:
liters > fluid ounces > drachms > minims
1 minim in Dune is less than a single drop of water, while the rest are similar to their real-world counterparts. I estimate that minims are smaller than a normal drop by 60%, and if this relation differs (40-60%), L/fl oz/dr would have to be larger as an offset (20-0%), allowing a 5% error (±1 minim). All this is based on analysis of the text and contextual knowledge. It was Frank Herbert's style to leave intentional blanks, giving us just enough clues to connect the dots, as I just did. So to be more specific, the deathstill produced 33 liters, 0 fl oz (0/32), 7 drachms (7/1024), and 3 minims (3/32,768).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes I focus in and research particular details, and this is one of those times. We're given hints as to how Fremen measured water, but how do we flesh out their measurement system? There seems to be a lack of info on this. Other than a reddit thread, there's the Dune Wiki page on Water Rings, which contains info from the Encyclopedia which I'd rather avoid.
So, going by the evidence in the original text, contextual knowledge and a bit of reasoning:
After Jamis' death, the deathstill produced 33 liters, 7 drachms, and 3/32s. Since a drachm is divided into 32, some comments I've read presume that a liter was 32 drachms, so that the smallest unit was 1/1024 of a liter, or just under 1 milliliter. But, this is incorrect, because one of their units was left out of this figure. This makes sense on multiple points: first of all, a real-world drachm is a division of a fluid ounce, which suggests that its Dune equivalent likewise divides a unit smaller than a liter; especially since there are close to 32 fluid ounces in a liter, which fits the pattern. Secondly, Lady Jessica refers to "superb accuracy in water measurement", and the smallest unit being close to 1 mL doesn't quite cut it. However, if we add a fluid ounce (or whatever the unknown unit is called), then a drachm would be about 1 mL, and the smallest unit would be 1/32 of a mL (thereabouts).
There is a difficulty, in that 1 mL contains only 20 drops of water, not 32, but this can be explained away. First, there's the difference between 1/1000 and 1/1024, and the difference of metric rounding, which should bring it up a little (eta-insignificant); it's also likely that a Fremen drop/minim would be smaller than its real-world counterpart, bringing the number higher. But more importantly, we can assume that Fremen units are somewhat different than their real-world counterparts. This is a reasonable assumption, given that Frank Herbert made sure to transform things from Old Earth, and we see that in the Fremen's hybridization of the Standard and Metric systems, combining easy division with even scalability, borrowing from the strengths of both systems. Further evidence that the units are somewhat different is the amount from the deathstill, just over 33 liters, despite the fact that the adult male human body contains 40-45 liters (eta-this can be explained away without scaling up units). Even accounting for water loss from being killed in combat, the figure seems too low for real-world metric liters, especially given Fremen prevention of losses and the high efficiency of their deathstills (both of which are safe assumptions). Thus, it seems that Dune liters are somewhat larger by approximately 1/4 to 1/5. Going by this, we find the measurements add up correctly. That brings us close to the amount of water in the body (minus losses); it also closes the gap nicely on the smallest measurement.
So, the Fremen liter is roughly 20-25% larger than our liters (15-30% at least/most), which is divided into 32 fluid ounces(?), which are then divided into 32 drachms, each containing 32 drops of water. Measuring down to less than a drop (minim?) would certainly qualify as superb accuracy, and fits what we know of Fremen water discipline and craftsmanship.
Questions/comments/corrections welcome! eta: corrections made, updates below.