Imperial Yanks vs. metric Frenchies

 

On 18 germinal 1795 (April 7th, 1795) the metric system was voted in France as the revolutionary new system of measurement that would be used throughout the country. However, it took another 50 years (1837) before it became mandatory. 

Since then, the entire world has taken up the system developed by the French, from China to Chile, from Russia to Qatar. Talk about France’s waning influence…

Well, on second thought, not the entire world.

The Imperial system, still in use in the UK and the Commonwealth, is based on Roman and old Anglo-Saxon units. Enter a Tolkien-like universe of thumbs, chains, furlongs, ounces, pounds, and other pecks and bushels. Add the Fahrenheit temperature measurement system and you have a complete recipe for confusion. Even the British, so fond of their system that is so old that it sometimes stands as a symbol of obscurantism, have decided some years ago to discard the Fahrenheit system in favor of the Celsius one. British TV weather forecasts now use Celsius degrees exclusively.

Understandably, it wasn’t historically acceptable for the US to adopt the English imperial system. So they implemented the U.S. customary units in its place.

But in essence, it is the same system, as old fashioned and medieval-like as the English one. Slight differences, no more. Americans’ weight is measured in pounds, their height in feet (why not knee or ankles?), they buy their gasoline by the gallon (old latin for bucket!) or their oil by the barrel (from the French 12th century word baril.)

And while it hasn’t prevented America to be the world power we know about, the parallel existence of this antiquated system along with the metric one turned out to be the basic cause for the failure of a MARS explorer satellite 6 years ago. Let’s note that officially, the U.S. has been “metric” since 1866. In practice however, metric units are simply not used.

Now the question is not to compare both systems or decide which one is “better” (the world seems to have made up its mind a long time ago…) but to ponder how a country that is so often 10 years ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to technological feats and scientific prowess can continue to use such an archaic system of measurement.

And I for one sometimes wonder whether the widespread acceptance of a medieval system may have anything to do with the fact that 45% of Americans believe that God created humans in their present form 10,000 years ago…

Note : The painting is “Woman holding a balance” by Vermeer: