Anti-metrication
Encyclopedia
The spread of metrication
around the world in the last two centuries has been met with both support and opposition. All countries except Burma (Myanmar), Liberia
, and the United States of America have officially adopted the metric system, although actual usage may be more complex.
expressions such as a stone's throw, within earshot, a cartload or a handful illustrate the thinking behind traditional measurements. These measures were often relational and commensurable: a request for a judgment of measure allowed for a variety of answers, depending on the context of the request. In parts of Malaysia, villagers asked the distance to the next village were likely to respond with three rice cookings; an approximation of the time it would take to travel there on foot. Everyone is assumed to know how long it takes to cook rice. Named units referring to seeming standards also were contextualized. The aune, a French ell
used for measuring cloth, depended on the sort of cloth being measured, taking price
and scarcity
into account; an aune of silk
was shorter than an aune of linen
.
Traditional English units of measure reflect these ways of measuring, including their lack of standardisation. These units were not scientifically precise
, but were easy to learn and use for making rough estimates of size.
The British Weights and Measures Society has argued that metrics led to a greater complexity for consumers because, unlike the ounce, the gram is too small for measurement in everyday life. and that the introduction of the metric system can aid profiteering if manufacturers downsize packages.
of Pure Reason
from the more radical element of the French Revolution
, that it was devised in France
to try to make France "revenue-rich, militarily potent, and easily administered", and that it was part of a conscious plan to transform French culture, meant to unify and transform French society: "As mathematics was the language of science, so would the metric system be the language of commerce and industry." In his 1998 monograph Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, James C. Scott
argued that central governments attempt to impose what he calls "legibility" on their subjects. Local folkways concerning measurements, like local customs concerning patronymics, tend to come under severe pressure from bureaucracies. Scott's thesis is that in order for schemes to improve the human condition to succeed, they must take into account local conditions, and that the high-modernist ideologies of the 20th century have prevented this. Scott cites the enforcement of the metric system as a specific example of this sort of failed and resented "improvement" imposed by centralizing and standardizing authority. While the metric system was introduced in the French law by the revolutionary government in April 1795, it did not immediately displace traditional measurements in the popular mind. In fact, its use was initially associated with officialdom and elitism as Chateaubriand
remarked in 1828: "Whenever you meet a fellow who, instead of talking arpent
s, toise
s, and pieds, refers to hectares, metres, and centimetres, rest assured, the man is a prefect
. However, it was largely used in France and in other countries by July 1837 when the decimal metric system was finally decided upon and considered the only official measurement system to be used in France
argues that adopting metric measures in shops, especially in supermarkets, gives an opportunity for traders to increase prices covertly. They give numerous examples of packaged groceries to back up this contention.
However, common metric units are larger than their nearest US/imperial counterparts: half a kilogram is more than a pound (0.5 kg = 1.102 lb), one metre is more than a yard (1 m = 1.094 yd), one litre is a little more than a US quart (1 L = 1.0567 qt) (though a little less than an imperial quart). When Pepsi
became the first in the United States to sell soft drink
s in two-litre bottles instead of two-quart (US)(1.89 L) bottles, it was a success, and two-litre bottles are now well-established in the American soda market, though fluid ounces remain the usual unit of measure for cans.
The move to smaller units (e.g. [milliliter] vs [fluid ounce], [gram] vs [ounce]) allows manufacturers to move sizes of packaging up and down with more precision. For example, a 2 oz packet of chips may be moved to 50 grams, then 45 grams. Likewise, strange packaging sizes may arise, such as 690 grams (about 24 oz) or 1200 grams (about 42 oz), usually resulting from conversion and rounding of obsolete units.
Metric supporters point out that this argument is flawed in several ways. Firstly, only a few parts of the imperial or US customary systems actually feature the factor twelve, namely the inch
-to-foot ratio and the obsolete troy ounce
-to-troy pound ratio. Powers of two
are more common, especially in volume measures, along with other factors including (rarely) five, seven and eleven. Metric supporters also point out the difficulty to convert with such ratios as five, seven and eleven are prime number
s.
Secondly, the argument compares the ratio between units for customary numbers, with the base of the numbering system for metric units. Both customary units and metric units use the same base 10 numbering system. However, the ratio between metric units, due to the use of an SI prefix
, are all powers of 10. 1000 has many more proper factors than 12 or 16, with the set being {2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 20, 25, 40, 50, 100, 125, 200, 250, 500}.
The main disadvantage cited by critics of customary measures is the proliferation of units and difficulty in remembering the ratios between them.
The non-metric units have different values in different times and places. At the time of the French revolution there were over 5000 different foot measures. The present UK imperial system is based on the Weights and Measures Act 1824, about 30 years after the founding of the metric system.
By contrast, the metric system has remained unchanged since it was first defined. Even though the metre
was intended to equal one ten-millionth of the length of the meridian
through Paris from pole to the equator, the calculated value was subsequently found to be short by 0.2 millimetres (because researchers miscalculated the flattening of the Earth). Nevertheless, the original reference metre was retained, leaving the exact distance from equator to pole slightly more than ten million metres. Subsequent advances in science and engineering have required increased precision in the definition, so that it is now defined as the length travelled by light in a vacuum during the time interval of of a second. In addition, a reference standard (a rod of platinum-iridium alloy) is maintained by the inter-governmental organisation the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, and calibration of a standard metre is usually achieved (to one part in a billion, or slightly better in some recent installations) by counting 1,579,800.298728 wavelengths of the ultra-fine (3s2 to 2p4) emission line of helium-neon laser
light (this wavelength being approximately in a vacuum). These refinements improved the precision and consistency with which the metre was defined.
. In 1824 in Britain, the Weights and Measures Act
("An Act for ascertaining and establishing Uniformity of Weights and Measures") consolidated the various gallons in use at the time and established a new imperial gallon, and prohibited the use of the older units, including what the United States now calls customary US measure.
Anti-metrication in the UK often manifests itself in conjunction with Euroscepticism
because of the belief that the European Union
is responsible for compulsory metrication. However, a Board of Trade
committee had (without success) recommended metrication to the Government in 1951, ten years before the UK first applied to join the EEC. The Board of Trade initiated metrication in 1965, with a target completion date of 1975 and the Metrication Board
was established in 1968, five years before the UK actually joined the European Economic Community
(on its second attempt). The EU's own Units of Measurement Directive dated from 1971 and was substantially revised in 1979.
All Statutory Instruments for metrication since 1985 have relied on powers derived from the UK European Communities Act 1972
. This helped to reinforce anti-EU sentiment as the British Parliament does not vote on such measures. More recently, anti-metrication supporters have asserted that the (claimed) legal compulsion to adopt the metric system instead of their traditional weights and measures is an infringement of a right to freedom of speech, though this claim has been consistently rejected by the courts. On 25 February 2004, the European Court of Human Rights
rejected an application from some British shopkeepers
who said that their human rights had been violated.
On 8 May 2007, several British newspapers including The Times used correspondence between Giles Chichester MEP
and EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen to report that the European Commission had decided to allow meat, fish, fruit and vegetables to continue to be sold in pounds and ounces. These reports did not mention that pounds and ounces would only retain supplementary-unit status. On 10 September, the EU Commission published proposed amendments to the Units of Measurement Directive that would permit supplementary units (such as pounds and ounces) to be used indefinitely alongside, but not instead of, the units catalogued in the Units of Measurement Directive.
In the US, there is also government compulsion with weights and measures. Federal and state laws control the labeling of goods for sale in the supermarket, drugs, wine, liquor, etc. The US Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
mandates that measurement must be in both metric and U.S. customary units. However, wine must be bottled in 50 mL, 100 mL, 187 mL, 375 mL, 500 mL, 750 mL, 1 L, 1.5 L, or 3 L sizes. Containers over 3 L must be bottled in quantities of even litres. No other sizes may be bottled. Spirits must also be sold in metric quantities. However, the US Code of Federal Regulations mandates that the net contents of beer labels must be stated in English units of measure.
On March 29, 2010, NASA
, the United States' space agency, decided to avoid making its new Constellation rocket system metric-compliant, especially due to pressure from manufacturers. It predicted that it would cost to convert to metric measurements for parts made by both NASA and external companies. Constellation would have borrowed technology from the 1970s-era Space Shuttle program (which used non-metric measurements in software and hardware). However, commercial space manufacturers, such as Space X, design their systems (e.g. Dragon
and Falcon 9
) using metric units.
Books opposing metrication
Metrication
Metrication refers to the introduction and use of the SI metric system, the international standard for physical measurements. This has involved a long process of independent and systematic conversions of countries from various local systems of weights and measures. Metrication began in France in...
around the world in the last two centuries has been met with both support and opposition. All countries except Burma (Myanmar), Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, and the United States of America have officially adopted the metric system, although actual usage may be more complex.
Natural evolution and human scale
One argument used by opponents of the metric system is that traditional systems of measurement were developed organically from actual use. Early measures were human in scale. Traditional EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
expressions such as a stone's throw, within earshot, a cartload or a handful illustrate the thinking behind traditional measurements. These measures were often relational and commensurable: a request for a judgment of measure allowed for a variety of answers, depending on the context of the request. In parts of Malaysia, villagers asked the distance to the next village were likely to respond with three rice cookings; an approximation of the time it would take to travel there on foot. Everyone is assumed to know how long it takes to cook rice. Named units referring to seeming standards also were contextualized. The aune, a French ell
Ell
An ell , is a unit of measurement, approximating the length of a man's arm.Several national forms existed, with different lengths, includingthe Scottish ell ,the Flemish ell ,the French ell...
used for measuring cloth, depended on the sort of cloth being measured, taking price
Price
-Definition:In ordinary usage, price is the quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services.In modern economies, prices are generally expressed in units of some form of currency...
and scarcity
Scarcity
Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem of having humans who have unlimited wants and needs in a world of limited resources. It states that society has insufficient productive resources to fulfill all human wants and needs. Alternatively, scarcity implies that not all of society's goals can be...
into account; an aune of silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
was shorter than an aune of linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
.
Traditional English units of measure reflect these ways of measuring, including their lack of standardisation. These units were not scientifically precise
Accuracy and precision
In the fields of science, engineering, industry and statistics, the accuracy of a measurement system is the degree of closeness of measurements of a quantity to that quantity's actual value. The precision of a measurement system, also called reproducibility or repeatability, is the degree to which...
, but were easy to learn and use for making rough estimates of size.
The British Weights and Measures Society has argued that metrics led to a greater complexity for consumers because, unlike the ounce, the gram is too small for measurement in everyday life. and that the introduction of the metric system can aid profiteering if manufacturers downsize packages.
High modernism and legibility
Commentator Ken Alder noted that on the eve of the French Revolution a quarter of a million different units of measure were in use in France; in many cases quantity associated with each unit of measure differed from town to town and even from trade to trade. He claimed that the metric system originated in the ideologyIdeology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
of Pure Reason
Reason
Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...
from the more radical element of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, that it was devised in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to try to make France "revenue-rich, militarily potent, and easily administered", and that it was part of a conscious plan to transform French culture, meant to unify and transform French society: "As mathematics was the language of science, so would the metric system be the language of commerce and industry." In his 1998 monograph Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, James C. Scott
James C. Scott
James C. Scott is Sterling Professor of Political Science, formerly Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Anthropology at Yale University. He is also the director of the Program in Agrarian Studies. By training, he is a southeast Asianist.- Research topics :James Scott's work focuses...
argued that central governments attempt to impose what he calls "legibility" on their subjects. Local folkways concerning measurements, like local customs concerning patronymics, tend to come under severe pressure from bureaucracies. Scott's thesis is that in order for schemes to improve the human condition to succeed, they must take into account local conditions, and that the high-modernist ideologies of the 20th century have prevented this. Scott cites the enforcement of the metric system as a specific example of this sort of failed and resented "improvement" imposed by centralizing and standardizing authority. While the metric system was introduced in the French law by the revolutionary government in April 1795, it did not immediately displace traditional measurements in the popular mind. In fact, its use was initially associated with officialdom and elitism as Chateaubriand
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
remarked in 1828: "Whenever you meet a fellow who, instead of talking arpent
Arpent
An arpent is a unit of length and a unit of area. It is a pre-metric French unit based on the Roman actus. It is used in Quebec as well as in some areas of the United States that were part of French Louisiana.-Unit of length:...
s, toise
Toise
A toise is a unit of measure for length, area and volume originating in pre-revolutionary France. In North America, it was used in colonial French establishments in early New France, French Louisiana , and Quebec...
s, and pieds, refers to hectares, metres, and centimetres, rest assured, the man is a prefect
Préfet
A prefect in France is the State's representative in a department or region. Sub-prefects are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, arrondissements...
. However, it was largely used in France and in other countries by July 1837 when the decimal metric system was finally decided upon and considered the only official measurement system to be used in France
Price inflation
The British Weights and Measures AssociationBritish Weights and Measures Association
The current British Weights and Measures Association, or BWMA, is a pressure group established in the United Kingdom in 1995, founded by Vivian Linacre....
argues that adopting metric measures in shops, especially in supermarkets, gives an opportunity for traders to increase prices covertly. They give numerous examples of packaged groceries to back up this contention.
However, common metric units are larger than their nearest US/imperial counterparts: half a kilogram is more than a pound (0.5 kg = 1.102 lb), one metre is more than a yard (1 m = 1.094 yd), one litre is a little more than a US quart (1 L = 1.0567 qt) (though a little less than an imperial quart). When Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
became the first in the United States to sell soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
s in two-litre bottles instead of two-quart (US)(1.89 L) bottles, it was a success, and two-litre bottles are now well-established in the American soda market, though fluid ounces remain the usual unit of measure for cans.
The move to smaller units (e.g. [milliliter] vs [fluid ounce], [gram] vs [ounce]) allows manufacturers to move sizes of packaging up and down with more precision. For example, a 2 oz packet of chips may be moved to 50 grams, then 45 grams. Likewise, strange packaging sizes may arise, such as 690 grams (about 24 oz) or 1200 grams (about 42 oz), usually resulting from conversion and rounding of obsolete units.
Divisibility
Metric opponents cite easier division of customary units as one reason not to adopt a decimalized system. For example, the customary units with ratios of 12 and 16 have more proper factors than the metric 10 - {2, 3, 4, 6} and {2, 4, 8} vs. {2, 5}.Metric supporters point out that this argument is flawed in several ways. Firstly, only a few parts of the imperial or US customary systems actually feature the factor twelve, namely the inch
Inch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
-to-foot ratio and the obsolete troy ounce
Troy ounce
The troy ounce is a unit of imperial measure. In the present day it is most commonly used to gauge the weight of precious metals. One troy ounce is nowadays defined as exactly 0.0311034768 kg = 31.1034768 g. There are approximately 32.1507466 troy oz in 1 kg...
-to-troy pound ratio. Powers of two
Power of two
In mathematics, a power of two means a number of the form 2n where n is an integer, i.e. the result of exponentiation with as base the number two and as exponent the integer n....
are more common, especially in volume measures, along with other factors including (rarely) five, seven and eleven. Metric supporters also point out the difficulty to convert with such ratios as five, seven and eleven are prime number
Prime number
A prime number is a natural number greater than 1 that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself. A natural number greater than 1 that is not a prime number is called a composite number. For example 5 is prime, as only 1 and 5 divide it, whereas 6 is composite, since it has the divisors 2...
s.
Secondly, the argument compares the ratio between units for customary numbers, with the base of the numbering system for metric units. Both customary units and metric units use the same base 10 numbering system. However, the ratio between metric units, due to the use of an SI prefix
SI prefix
The International System of Units specifies a set of unit prefixes known as SI prefixes or metric prefixes. An SI prefix is a name that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a decadic multiple or fraction of the unit. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol...
, are all powers of 10. 1000 has many more proper factors than 12 or 16, with the set being {2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 20, 25, 40, 50, 100, 125, 200, 250, 500}.
The main disadvantage cited by critics of customary measures is the proliferation of units and difficulty in remembering the ratios between them.
Industry-specific product sizing
Metric opposed artisans and practitioners may be concerned by certain dimensions being less memorable with metric units. As the table below shows, industries have adapted to such concern by rounding dimensions in metric units:| Industry | Common reference | Metric reference |
|---|---|---|
| Carpentry | 4'×8' plywood | 1219 × 2438 mm (exact) 1200 × 2400 mm (new Europe) |
| "2 by 4" | 50.8 × 101.6 mm (exact) 50 × 100 mm (Europe) (but planing makes all beams 3~8 mm narrower) |
Tradition
For some, anti-metrication is a form of traditionalism, looking to a history of usage that stretches back centuries or even millennia.The non-metric units have different values in different times and places. At the time of the French revolution there were over 5000 different foot measures. The present UK imperial system is based on the Weights and Measures Act 1824, about 30 years after the founding of the metric system.
By contrast, the metric system has remained unchanged since it was first defined. Even though the metre
Metre
The metre , symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units . Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole , its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology...
was intended to equal one ten-millionth of the length of the meridian
Meridian (geography)
A meridian is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface from the North Pole to the South Pole that connects all locations along it with a given longitude. The position of a point along the meridian is given by its latitude. Each meridian is perpendicular to all circles of latitude...
through Paris from pole to the equator, the calculated value was subsequently found to be short by 0.2 millimetres (because researchers miscalculated the flattening of the Earth). Nevertheless, the original reference metre was retained, leaving the exact distance from equator to pole slightly more than ten million metres. Subsequent advances in science and engineering have required increased precision in the definition, so that it is now defined as the length travelled by light in a vacuum during the time interval of of a second. In addition, a reference standard (a rod of platinum-iridium alloy) is maintained by the inter-governmental organisation the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, and calibration of a standard metre is usually achieved (to one part in a billion, or slightly better in some recent installations) by counting 1,579,800.298728 wavelengths of the ultra-fine (3s2 to 2p4) emission line of helium-neon laser
Helium-neon laser
A helium–neon laser or HeNe laser, is a type of gas laser whose gain medium consists of a mixture of helium and neon inside of a small bore capillary tube, usually excited by a DC electrical discharge.- History of HeNe laser development:...
light (this wavelength being approximately in a vacuum). These refinements improved the precision and consistency with which the metre was defined.
Government compulsion
The adoption of metric units has required some government compulsion and some have argued that such policies are wrong in principle. However, compulsory standards of weights and measures go back as far as Magna CartaMagna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
. In 1824 in Britain, the Weights and Measures Act
Weights and Measures Act
A Weights and Measures Act is an Act of Parliament determining trade law where the weight or size of the goods being traded are important. For example, if a bottle of milk is for sale and has a label saying it contains one pint, then the law states that it must contain that amount.-United...
("An Act for ascertaining and establishing Uniformity of Weights and Measures") consolidated the various gallons in use at the time and established a new imperial gallon, and prohibited the use of the older units, including what the United States now calls customary US measure.
Anti-metrication in the UK often manifests itself in conjunction with Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
because of the belief that the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
is responsible for compulsory metrication. However, a Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
committee had (without success) recommended metrication to the Government in 1951, ten years before the UK first applied to join the EEC. The Board of Trade initiated metrication in 1965, with a target completion date of 1975 and the Metrication Board
Metrication Board
The Metrication Board was a non-departmental public body that existed in the United Kingdom to promote and coordinate metrication within the country and prepare the public for the change.-History:...
was established in 1968, five years before the UK actually joined the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
(on its second attempt). The EU's own Units of Measurement Directive dated from 1971 and was substantially revised in 1979.
All Statutory Instruments for metrication since 1985 have relied on powers derived from the UK European Communities Act 1972
European Communities Act 1972
European Communities Act 1972 can refer to:*European Communities Act 1972 * European Communities Act 1972...
. This helped to reinforce anti-EU sentiment as the British Parliament does not vote on such measures. More recently, anti-metrication supporters have asserted that the (claimed) legal compulsion to adopt the metric system instead of their traditional weights and measures is an infringement of a right to freedom of speech, though this claim has been consistently rejected by the courts. On 25 February 2004, the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
rejected an application from some British shopkeepers
Metric Martyrs
The Metric Martyrs are a British advocacy group based in the United Kingdom who campaign for the freedom to choose what units of measurement are presented. The group states that it believes that vendors should have the freedom to mark their goods with any units they choose. This can be solely...
who said that their human rights had been violated.
On 8 May 2007, several British newspapers including The Times used correspondence between Giles Chichester MEP
Giles Chichester
Giles Chichester is a British Conservative Party politician, and a Member of the European Parliament for South West England and Gibraltar. He was elected as a temporary Vice President of the European Parliament on 6 July 2011 to replace Silvana Koch-Mehrin who had resigned over plagiarism...
and EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen to report that the European Commission had decided to allow meat, fish, fruit and vegetables to continue to be sold in pounds and ounces. These reports did not mention that pounds and ounces would only retain supplementary-unit status. On 10 September, the EU Commission published proposed amendments to the Units of Measurement Directive that would permit supplementary units (such as pounds and ounces) to be used indefinitely alongside, but not instead of, the units catalogued in the Units of Measurement Directive.
In the US, there is also government compulsion with weights and measures. Federal and state laws control the labeling of goods for sale in the supermarket, drugs, wine, liquor, etc. The US Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act is a US law that applies to labels on many consumer products. It requires the label to state:*The identity of the product;*The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor; and...
mandates that measurement must be in both metric and U.S. customary units. However, wine must be bottled in 50 mL, 100 mL, 187 mL, 375 mL, 500 mL, 750 mL, 1 L, 1.5 L, or 3 L sizes. Containers over 3 L must be bottled in quantities of even litres. No other sizes may be bottled. Spirits must also be sold in metric quantities. However, the US Code of Federal Regulations mandates that the net contents of beer labels must be stated in English units of measure.
On March 29, 2010, NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, the United States' space agency, decided to avoid making its new Constellation rocket system metric-compliant, especially due to pressure from manufacturers. It predicted that it would cost to convert to metric measurements for parts made by both NASA and external companies. Constellation would have borrowed technology from the 1970s-era Space Shuttle program (which used non-metric measurements in software and hardware). However, commercial space manufacturers, such as Space X, design their systems (e.g. Dragon
Dragon (spacecraft)
The Dragon is a reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX, a private space transportation company based in Hawthorne, California. During its unmanned maiden flight in December 2010, it became the first commercially-built and -operated spacecraft to ever be successfully recovered from orbit.The Dragon...
and Falcon 9
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a rocket-powered spaceflight launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Both stages of its two-stage-to-orbit vehicle use liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants...
) using metric units.
See also
- Mesures usuellesMesures usuellesMesures usuelles were a system of measurement introduced by Napoleon I in 1812 to act as compromise between the metric system and traditional measurements...
- MetricationMetricationMetrication refers to the introduction and use of the SI metric system, the international standard for physical measurements. This has involved a long process of independent and systematic conversions of countries from various local systems of weights and measures. Metrication began in France in...
- SI prefixSI prefixThe International System of Units specifies a set of unit prefixes known as SI prefixes or metric prefixes. An SI prefix is a name that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a decadic multiple or fraction of the unit. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol...
- Metrication in the United StatesMetrication in the United StatesMetrication is the process of introducing the International System of Units , a metric system of measurement, to replace the historical or customary units of measurement of a country or region...
- Metrication in the United KingdomMetrication in the United KingdomMetrication in the United Kingdom is the process of introducing the metric system of measurement in place of imperial units in the United Kingdom....
- Metric MartyrsMetric MartyrsThe Metric Martyrs are a British advocacy group based in the United Kingdom who campaign for the freedom to choose what units of measurement are presented. The group states that it believes that vendors should have the freedom to mark their goods with any units they choose. This can be solely...
- Metric Martyrs
- Units of measurementUnits of measurementA unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same physical quantity. Any other value of the physical quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of...
- Decimal timeDecimal timeDecimal time is the representation of the time of day using units which are decimally related. This term is often used to refer specifically to French Revolutionary Time, which divides the day into 10 decimal hours, each decimal hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute into 100 decimal...
- French Republican CalendarFrench Republican CalendarThe French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871...
Further reading
Books supporting metrication- Metric Signs Ahead (UKMA) (2005) by Robin Paice (ISBN 0955235123)
- A Very British Mess (UKMA) (2004) by Robin Paice (ISBN 0750310146)
Books opposing metrication
- The General Rule by Vivian Linacre (ISBN 1906069018)
- About the Size of It by Warwick CairnsWarwick CairnsWarwick Cairns is a British author.He was educated at Keele University in England and at Yale University in the United States, where he studied under Professor Harold Bloom....
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