On 23Sep2021 1845, Cian Witherspoon - amber.narilka at gmail.com (via
tml list) wrote:
> Correction: the trade chapter is book 2 again. Page 43 (typing from a pdf):
> "extension should instead be based on price with weight as a
> limiting factor."
> Interestingly, this is the same in both 77 and 81, and they have the exact
> same paragraph (81 has it on page 48).
> At the very least, this indicates that cargo was absolutely intended to be
> measured in mass, providing a strong correlation for mass-based ship design.
Traditionally in cargo shipping a 'ton' was a measure of volume, which
just happened to also be about a ton in wieght when it came to 'average'
cargoes. Ships have always been limited by both volume and mass when it
comes to what they can carry, and I see no reason why that wouldn't be
the same for a Traveller spaceship. Thus you build in volume, and assume
that each ton of displacement will carry a ton of cargo, even if it only
fills a small portion of that ton of volume.

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>