Concerning changing the units of physics into the forms used in my essay:
The change made is not one of introducing new types of units. For example, the units used include meters and seconds. They remain as before. The actual change made is far more radical. It involves returning the equations of physics back to their empirical roots. In other words, removing all units that are not necessary for expressing empirical evidence. Empirical evidence consists of patterns in changes of velocities. The units used to express changes of velocity include just the two units of meters and seconds. Those are the only two units that should be necessary to express the equations of physics in their empirical forms.
An example of an empirical form for an equation of physics is f=ma before deciding about how to interpret mass and force. The empirical evidence for f=ma makes clear that there are four properties involved. They are: distance, time, force and resistance to force. Both distance and time are naturally indefinable properties and their units of meters and seconds are indefinable units.
Being definable means that a property can be expressed solely in terms of pre-existing properties. There are no properties pre-existing distance and time. There are no units pre-existing meters and seconds. However, both force and mass have been learned of and inferred by the patterns of empirical evidence. Everything we are to know about them is rooted in that empirical evidence.
Both force and resistance to force should be fully expressible in terms of the pre-existing properties of distance and time. The units of force and resistance to force should be fully defined by the pre-existing units of meters and seconds. This is the practice followed in my use of units.
The units are the two old units of meters and seconds. Both force and mass must have units that are formed from conbinations of meters and seconds. There are several possible combinations. The choice for mass, that is both logical and proves to be successful is for mass to have units of inverse acceleration. Those units are seconds^2/meters. Force, as a ratio of two accelerations is unit free.
From this point on all other units of higher level properties are definable in terms of those of mass, distance and time. All of them consist of combinations of meters and seconds. For example, energy as the product of force and distance has units of meters. Actually, in long form it has [(units of accleration)/(by units of acceleration )][units of meters].
James Putnam