Most of the rest of the world is on the metric system, and for a time in the 1970s America appeared ready to make the switch. Yet it never happened, and the reasons for that get to the root of who we think we are, just as the measurements are woven into the ways we think. Marcia…
Chronicles the history of measurement systems and discusses why America has never adopted the metric system.
Most of the rest of the world is on the metric system, and for a time in the 1970s America appeared ready to make the switch. Yet it never happened, and the reasons for that get to the root of who we think we are, just as the measurements are woven into the ways we think. Marcia…
The American standard system of measurement is a unique and odd thing to behold with its esoteric, inconsistent standards: twelve inches in a foot, three feet in a yard, sixteen ounces in a pound, one hundred pennies in a dollar. For something as elemental as counting and estima…
Beretning om de genvordigheder, to franske landmålere og astronomer under revolutionen måtte igennem for at fastlægge, hvor lang en meter egentlig er
Measurement forms an essential part of our view of the world. Our world is measured and calibrated, and we are all subject to the tyranny of these numbers. In this updated and extended edition, Jeffrey Huw Williams outlines the history of measurement; particularly of the Interna…
L'instauration du système métrique décimal à l'aube de la Révolution française ; l'universalité du système métrique : le quart de méridien terrestre est pris pour unité réelle, tandis que sa dix-millionième partie, le mètre, est prise pour unité usuelle ; l'aventure intellectuel…
