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| why is the US not Metric |
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| boffin:
I said it before, I'll say it again, the majority of the United States hasn't gone metric because of arrogance. Trying to argue logic with them will always fail, they just assume the rest of the world will have to deal with what they do. |
| ebastler:
--- Quote from: TimFox on January 06, 2020, 04:04:45 pm ---As I understand the history, the liter was originally defined as 1000 cubic centimeters. The gram was originally defined as the mass of one cubic centimeter of water. The prototype kilogram was then fabricated to agree with that definition. However, due to the temperature dependence of water’s density (and perhaps the difficulty of measuring the volume of liquid water due to meniscus) there was a small discrepancy between the prototype kilogram and a liter of water. I took chemistry in high school just before the 1964 redefinition. Between 1901 and 1964, the liter was defined as the volume of 1 kg of water, slightly different from 1000 cubic centimeters. The graduated cylinders and pipettes we had in chemistry lab probably couldn’t tell the difference. However, careful weighing might well resolve the difference between the two definitions. --- End quote --- Yes, that seems to be the sequence of events. Very strange to me that they accepted an inconsistency in the definitions of volume and length -- only to protect the definition that the density of water is exactly 1 kg/liter. (But not 1 g/cm³. ???) Well, reassuringly the view that this was a bad idea took hold by 1964... Apologies for my doubts, and thanks for your patience. So here's another argument for all fans of the imperial system: "We don't want anything to do with those flaky SI units!" ;) ;) |
| TimFox:
An important feature of this history is the change and improvements in measurement technology. Originally, the meter was defined by geography, and the second by astronomy. Then came the platinum-iridium prototype meter, which was replaced by a spectroscopic wavelength. Meanwhile, the second’s definition changed from tropical year 1900 (traceable, but difficult to recreate) to another atomic transition (measurable to very high resolution). When laser technology improved to produce a narrower line, it became possible to measure the temporal frequency and spatial wavelength simultaneously, so that the ratio (speed of light) could be measured to better resolution than the spectral line of Kr-86. At that point, the meter was redefined again in terms of light-seconds. In each step, the goal was a new definition, consistent with the older one, but measurable to better resolution. |
| KL27x:
--- Quote from: bsfeechannel on January 06, 2020, 09:37:01 am ---In other words, the world has accomplished nothing. --- End quote --- No. The world accomplished a metric shit ton of things between 1870 and 2000. A lot of this was accomplished in metric. The combustion engine is one notable example which spurred a round of investment and activity in the late 1870's. This occurred fully in metric in Germany and Japan. Their tools, lathes, mills were metric. These same things were accomplished concurrently in the US and UK, but all in inches. And so it went from there until the 21st century. Including things like the Mesta hydraulic press, which requires like 6 city blocks to operate. The US changed pharmaceutical industry and chemistry to metric very early, because it made it much easier to tap into the body of knowledge and standards created in metric by the rest of the world, which was ahead of the US in these fields at the time. The US continued using imperial for many endeavor where it was and is equally as good, simply using a magic decoder ring if/when necessary to convert. In the process of building things like combustion engines and 500 ton hydraulic presses and aircraft carriers, one might be able to imagine that a certain body of knowledge. When you build something like a Mesta press or a Hubble telescope or the first nuclear reactor, you are taking a leap of faith that what you think you know is right. And sometimes it doesn't work the first try. You lean on your body of knowledge and previous experience as much as science. You have to know not just what you can imagine, but how that will turn out when you actually try to make it. The devil is in the details. The civil engineer doesn't build the roads and buildings. The physicist doesn't build the bomb parts. You have to know what your 200 lb gorillas can do. Last I checked, American houses and roads and bridges work pretty good, even though they are build using USC. Well, other than the FIU bridge, lol. When you order a PCB, you get some result back. Some manufacturer might be more accurate and consistent than the other. When you find the one you like, you order from them and ask for the same thing. W/e you did, do that again. You probably don't care how they do it. Same way that any joint NATO exercise with France isn't going to try to teach French artillery what a degree is. NATO command will let the French hit the target how they are trained. ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; --- Quote ---rstofer has already said that (with a lot less words, thankfully). What he and you are basically saying is that the US resists metrication because of this (false) perception that the rest of world simply watched passively the US become the US. So the world has no right to "tell" the US that metrication is a great idea. --- End quote --- rstofer never said that, to my knowledge. I did not say this. Furthermore, I disagree with 90% of what rstopher has said in this thread. (And probably 50% of what he has said in any other thread). --- Quote ---For the rest of the world, such perception is viewed as a sick and pathetic complex of superiority that makes US end up looking like it has accomplished nothing. --- End quote --- You and Boffin don't speak for the rest of the world, thankfully for the rest of the world. --- Quote --- --- Quote ---This has already been discussed many times in this thread, but you are intentionally blind to anything that doesn't fit your narrative. --- End quote --- I have particularly addressed this multiple times along this thread, but you insist with your theories, even though we have repeatedly debunked them. --- End quote --- LOL. Who is "we?" You and Boffin? :-DD Keep up the good work, fellas. The truth is out there. --- Quote ---The US independence was a regime change that radically destroyed a lot of traditions, the record of which is petrified in the Constitution, and inspired similar movements all over the world. --- End quote --- yep. --- Quote ---Why didn't the US take advantage of that and switched to metric right from the start? --- End quote --- You know the Declaration of Independence was in 1774? And the war ended 1783? And metric wasn't even an idea? Jefferson requested a set of prototypes in the 1790's, before France had even adopted the metric system, yet. But as we know, pirates. So he improved the system(s) America already used. Later, America's first attempt to standardize weights and measures with Britain also failed, due to inconsistency of the prototypes. It was decades later that we got that sorted, this time also truncating digits to get exact ratios with metric. America made strong efforts to standardize with the rest of the world since its very inception/birth, and it was a member of the origianal 17 nations at the first Metre Convention. Canada, Australia? No, they were nowhere to be seen. They joined, later. Please, debunk me. You have nitpicked a sentence here or there to no effect. I, otoh, trashed your "metric roads save 10% maintenance cost" BS, and you just ran away. Lots of people from Canada and Britain have debunked your claim that America is the only country using imperial, today. Lots of other countries besides UK and Candad use imperial standards for plumbing, as well, just because that's how it was done before and it only causes more problems to change. So please go ahead debunk me. And if you can, tell us what magical change will happen when we change road signs to km/h. Wait, lemme guess your response: Everyone else did it. Murica FREEDOM is dumb. BTW, making fun of America is fine. But making fun of freedom? Why do you guys do that? Chinese influence? C'mon and fix this face to face. No, you just lie in wait to spout more bullshit later, when you feel no one will notice how full of shit you are. |
| vwestlife:
For the record, the U.S. "officially" went Metric in 1979. It was only a few years behind the UK and Canada at the time. But the conservative governments that took over all three nations in the '80s (Reagan, Thatcher, and Mulroney) put a stop to any further Metrication efforts. Canada was the furthest along at the time and as a result uses Metric for most things except construction, cooking, and paper sizes. The UK was about halfway through Metrication and ended up with strange combinations such as measuring driving distances in miles, but buying fuel in liters. The U.S. had made the least progress when the plug was pulled, so kids learn the Metric system in science class in school and some products are primarily sold in Metric units (such as 2 liter bottles of soda) but we use U.S. Customary (not "Imperial") units for almost everything else in everyday life. |
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