December 25, 2010
HOW'S THAT WORKING OUT FOR ALL THOSE BACKWATERS?:
Can the U.S. give up its old yardstick?: Meteorologist Donald Hillger makes the case for switching to the decimal-based metric system, saying it will promote a better understanding and learning of science. (Lori Kozlowski, 12/24/10, Los Angeles Times)
In the supermarket, on the street and in bars, Europeans have long thought in units of 10 — fruit is weighed by the kilo, beverages dispensed by fractions of a liter and distances marked off in meters. Most Americans, meanwhile, still think in pounds, pints, feet and miles.The metric system, or SI (short for the International System of Units, or Systeme International d'Unites in French), has roots that stretch to 1670, when French scientist and abbot Gabriel Mouton proposed a decimal system based on the circumference of the Earth. In the late 18th century, France became the first country to widely adopt this system.
The United States remains one of the few nations that has not implemented the metric system. President Ford organized the U.S. Metric Board in 1975 to get the nation to make the switch voluntarily. But the committee disbanded in 1982 with the status quo mostly intact. (These days, sodas are commonly sold in 2-liter bottles.)
Donald Hillger, a meteorologist at Colorado State University and member of the U.S. Metric Assn., explained to The Times why a nationwide metric conversion could help scientific understanding. [...]
Why do you think people have held onto the old system for so long?
They grew up learning one way. Everything has a bit of a steep learning curve at first. And though the metric system is fairly straightforward, it might take some time to get used to it. There is a bit of Americanism there, too — some people think metric is foreign or French.
By holding back, though, they don't realize it's only to our own detriment. We are the only major country still on our old system.
It's not the old system. It's the system.
