Just posted: The above comments point out the reality that one of the major industrial nations on Earth (the U.S.) continues to use non-metric units in matters of everyday life and that this creates a burden on many people, inside and outside the U.S., to convert back and forth between this hodgepodge of units and metric units.
But those comments neglect to mention that the U.S. is much more metric now than it was in the 70s when the government de-funded the metric program. Virtually all federal building projects are now metric. Roughly half the money spent on highway construction in the U.S. is being spent on projects designed and constructed in metric units. The Navy's latest class of amphibious assault ships was designed in and is being built entirely in metric units. Over half of all Americans live in states who now allow metric-only labeling on products regulated by the states. Work is in progress to amend the FPLA to do the same at the federal level. These steps are partly in response to global economic pressures. Japan and the Republic of Korea forbid importing any items for sale that contain any non-metric indications; all goods sold there must be marked only in metric units. Australia has similar laws. The European Union has a directive that goes into effect at the end of 2009 to do the same thing; it is on its third and probably last deferment of the effective date. The reason for this global market move is that the metric system has become the international language of measurement, just as English has become the international language of business. Non-metric units present an opportunity for fraud in countries where they are not recognized and the ban on them is spreading. Let's face it, Americans, we're outvoted! That's global democracy for you and money is the ballot. Our share of global trade has slipped from 15% to 10% in the last decade and our American businesses are being forced by existing federal law to continue retailing in non-metric units, which is an additional cost factor. Before you get too wound up trumpeting the virtues of you favorite yard, pound, and gallon, you should realize that those have been defined in terms of the metric system for about 108 years now. In 1875 we were a charter member of the group that started the metric system off as the international system of measurement. Shortly after 1805 we did our first coastal survey using the original meter standard and coastal surveys have been done using that unit, directly or otherwise, ever since then. The metric system is as much a part of us, if not more so, than any other collection of units. If you think we stopped metricating in the 70s, you just haven't noticed the changes since then. For a brief, online history of the metric system, see the work in progress at http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj/background.htm And for more on the continuing move towards metrication in the U.S. see http://www.metricmethods.com/UPLR.html and http://www.metricmethods.com/theneed.html J.R. Frysinger, CAMS Dept. of Physics and Astronomy College of Charleston Charleston, SC 29424 http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj
