News

Why doesn’t the US use metric units of measurement?

The way people measure objects may seem like a very boring topic; But behind the scenes of Americans’ insistence on drinking coffee by the ounce and pumping gas by the gallon lies a story. A story that contains a lot of patriotism, political stability and historical distrust of the French.

to report Live ScienceKen Alder, professor of history at Northwestern University in Illinois, says: “The paradox is that the way we measure objects is very trivial and boring; But this method is also very important, because it gives structure to the way we live and interact with each other.”

Alder, who published “Measurement Is Everything: The Seven-Year Odyssey and the Hidden Mistake That Changed the World” in the Free Press in 2003, continues: “You can’t make comparisons or have economics without setting standards. Be. People have fought hard for standards; Because this is a real fight about how the economy works.”

In the 1970s, the French government asked the French Academy of Sciences to come up with a new and rational measurement system. The academy decided that the new measurement system would be based on something they could physically measure in nature; In other words, the new system should be able to withstand the test of time.

The French Academy of Sciences finally came to the conclusion that one meter should be equal to 10 millionths of a quarter of the Earth’s circumference; That is, a line that continues from the North Pole to the equator. This decision led to the beginning of the metric measurement unit.

The metric measurement system used by most countries in the world is an easier way to standardize measurements than the system used by the United States. Everything in the metric system is divided into decimals; For example, a centimeter is made up of 10 millimeters and a kilogram is made up of 1000 grams.

In addition to this metric measurement unit, it is also considered a logical system; For example, water freezes at 0°C (as opposed to 32°F, which is random) and boils at 100°C (instead of 212°F).

Despite these reasons, the question is why the United States has not shortened even an inch and Americans continue to use units of yards, miles and pints?

The common law system of the United States was formed and evolved from a collection of several systems that date back to medieval England. In 1970, George Washington noted the need for a unified currency and measurement. Money was successfully decimalized; But the integrity remained the same. In fact, America tried several times to change; But he could never do it completely. The British system was too ingrained in American industry and the national psyche of this country.

Even before the metric system came into being, several attempts were made by different groups in France; But these efforts did not go anywhere until the chaos after the 1789 French Revolution. “Prior to this, the measures taken varied not only from country to country, but also from city to city,” Alder told LiveScience.

In fact, it is thought that before the metric measurement system, there were more than 250,000 different units of measurement in France. During this period, standard measures were of great importance for people who traveled. According to Alder: “Local measurement systems put pressure on merchants; Whereas the metric system allowed them to know exactly what they were getting. Nevertheless, the local people resisted; Because they loved what they knew.”


Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button

Adblock Detected

Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker