What Was the Driving Force of the Metric System?

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The metric system was created during the french revolution. It's associated with what else people know about the french revolution, which is that it's a very anti-religious political revolution. So there's a lot of sort of zenophobic arguments that get mustered to get rid of the imperial system. But wouldn't that resistance to metric have made it really hard for the u k? To trade with neighboring countries? Uh, can respond. We don't need you, because we have our empire to trade with. And that creates its own internal market.

When reports surfaced that Boris Johnson would be announcing the return of imperial measurements to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee, there was some celebration, consternation, and a lot of confusion. Britain already uses a mix of both imperial and metric, and it is legal to price goods in pounds and ounces if this is displayed alongside the price in grams and kilograms. So what’s really behind this rekindled debate over units? Science editor Ian Sample speaks to author and metrology historian James Vincent about the rise of metric, the enduring political power of measurement, and why it’s unlikely we’ll be getting rid of pints in pubs any time soon.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod