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The Metric System – A Curse Or Cure?

The metric system has become the international standard for measurements. The few remaining holdouts are the United States, Myanmar and Liberia. If people had a better understanding of the metric system and its benefits, perhaps they would no longer oppose it.

The metric system was originated in 17th century England, although, as with many innovations, many of its ideas can be traced back much earlier. Simon Stevin, a mathematician of those times, first proposed the use of a standardized measurement system based on decimal conversion in a 1586 pamphlet. From that idea came John Wilkins’s plan, which is much of the system we use today.

While heavily adopted throughout the world, the metric system’s use in the United States continues to lag. The metric system was made a legal system of measure in 1866, and the United States was one of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures’ founding members in 1875. The system was adopted a hundred years later in 1975 for military and government agency use. While various laws and amendments require metric labeling on packages, the system is still voluntary in most other respects.

The largest proponent of the metric system in the United States is the United States Metric Association, (USMA) a group founded in 1916. They have pushed for laws to promote the conversion to the metric system, called metrication. One of the USMA’s missions is to educate the public about the metric system’s properties and benefits. They have played an important role in the creation of laws for the system’s use.

Yet, the system is still widely unfamiliar to many people, which makes it hard for them to accept it. The English system is something Americans are familiar with, and though it may be cumbersome, it is widely accepted. We don’t realize how much more simple it is to make a metric conversion. We don’t think twice about converting measurements when needed due to our familiarity with the system, so we don’t realize how cumbersome the English system really is.

There are, however, many benefits to the metric system over the imperial system. In the latter, we often must use a conversion tool to switch between imperial units of measure. The metric system eliminates this step because all quantities can be measured in units that can be converted through the use of the powers of ten. For example, cooking with the metric system would be easier without having to know how many cups are in a gallon or how many teaspoons are in a cup. Instead, the metric system uses a single unit for any type of measuring. You will quickly see the advantages when you compare the ease of the imperial system over the metric system.

Using a single system vastly lessens the possibility for errors, which may be its greatest strength.  Consider the example of overloaded aircrafts due to confusion between mass in pounds and in kilograms. A Canadian jet ran out of fuel in 1983 because its gauges were based on metric units but the fuel was provided in imperial units.

Even more costly was the mistake made by NASA when it lost its 1999 Mars orbiter when one team used metric units while another used the imperial system. NASA, a group of experts who should have known better and who normally show a great deal of attention to such important details, demonstrates the importance of using one system universally.

By adopting the metric system and by becoming accustomed to its use, we can take a big step in preventing such major and life-threatening mistakes.

To find a conversion metric or English, visit the online unit converter at http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/conversions.html

Posted: 06|4|10 at 7:07 am. Filed under: General.
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