We use them every day, but have you ever stopped to think about the fascinating history behind the measurement systems we rely on? From the inches and feet of the Imperial system to the meters and liters of the International System of Units (SI), these seemingly simple units have a rich and complex history, shaped by empires, revolutions, and cultural influences.
The Rise of the Imperial System:
The Imperial system, with its roots in the Roman Empire, was standardized in the United Kingdom. This system, based on the human body, used “people” as the measurement standard. Think of it as a system literally built by humans, for humans. The Imperial system, with its inches, feet, yards, and miles, became the standard for centuries, spreading its influence across the globe.
The French Revolution and the Birth of SI:
But the world was about to change. The French Revolution, a time of radical change and innovation, saw the birth of the International System of Units (SI). This system, based on scientific principles, used a more logical and consistent approach to measurement, with meters, grams, and liters as its foundation. SI quickly gained popularity, becoming the standard for science and industry worldwide.
A Clash of Systems:
The world today is a mix of Imperial and SI systems. The United States, still clinging to its historical roots, remains a stronghold of the Imperial system. But almost every other country in the world has adopted SI, recognizing its scientific accuracy and ease of use.
The Importance of Standardization:
Why does it matter which system we use? Standardized measurement systems are vital for trade, communication, and scientific research. Imagine trying to build a bridge or launch a rocket without a common understanding of length, weight, and volume! Standardization ensures that everyone is on the same page, making collaboration and innovation possible.
The Cultural Impact:
But the choice of measurement systems goes beyond mere practicality. It’s also deeply intertwined with cultural identity. The Imperial system, with its ties to the British Empire, remains a symbol of tradition for many Americans. Meanwhile, the SI system, born from the French Revolution, represents a new era of scientific progress and global cooperation.
A World of Measurement
The story of measurement systems is a fascinating journey through history, culture, and science. It’s a reminder that even seemingly simple units can have a profound impact on our lives, shaping our world in ways we may not even realize. So, the next time you measure something, take a moment to appreciate the rich history behind the units you’re using. It’s a story that’s as complex and fascinating as the world we live in.
Ordering pizza on a delivery app…wait a minute, how big is 9 inches? Is it big enough for one person?
On the plane, the captain announced that the plane was cruising at an altitude of 31,000 feet, uh… so how high was it?
If you go to the United States, no matter how fast your brain is running, it will inevitably get stuck: How long does it take to drive 5 miles? Can you lift a 20-pound dumbbell? Even when I had a fever, the body temperature measured was 100 degrees!
This begs the question: Can British units leave the earth? !
So the question is, why do some areas of life and the United States still use this incompatible measurement system?
Come on, get lost in the sea of conversions
Inches, degrees Fahrenheit, gallons, etc. that we occasionally see in our lives are all imperial units. The imperial system of units originated in Britain, but going further back, it was actually derived from the weights and measures of the Roman Empire.
The imperial unit is a measurement based on “people”. Taking length as an example, 1 inch (inch) originally refers to the width of an adult male’s thumb. Later, it was passed to England. Edward II probably felt that his thumb was not accurate enough, so he specified 1 inch as the length of “three grains of wheat connected end to end.”
Today, 1 inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters , so the diameter of a 9-inch pizza is about 23 centimeters; the diagonal of the iPhone 16 screen (6.1 inches) is about 15.5 centimeters…
Further up, 1 foot (foot), just like its English name, comes from the length of an adult man’s foot, which is 30.48 centimeters ; 1 yard (yard) is the length from the tip of an adult man’s nose to the tip of his finger, which is 91.44 centimeters .
Mile is more complicated. The word itself is derived from the Roman unit mille passus, which refers to the distance of 1,000 steps taken by one foot. After it spread to England, Queen Elizabeth I defined 1 mile as 8 waves (yes, furlong is also a unit of length), and today it is gradually determined to be 1.61 kilometers .
Obviously, the biggest drawback of the imperial units is the poor reproducibility. After all, everyone’s feet are different lengths. And since the sources of units of different scales can be said to have nothing to do with each other, the conversion between them is even more outrageous.
Imagine that you are a student in the United Kingdom or the United States and are now faced with this question: Given that 1 mile = 1760 yards = 5280 feet = 63360 inches, how many square feet is the area of a 100 yards × 50 yards football field?
Previous British banknotes were not even decimal: £1 = 20 shillings = 240 pence. Perhaps this system requires too much mental power from the people. In 1971, the British changed 1 pound to 100 pence and abolished the shilling. Only then did the British people finally settle their accounts!
Although the British system of weights and measures is strange enough, with the colonial expansion of Britain, this set of units was once popularized around the world. Until now, some countries and regions still use certain imperial units.
The United States took over entirely and developed a set of “American and British” units. Friends who have traveled, worked or studied in the United States must have experienced a big brain explosion in unit conversion.
The birth of the International System of Units
Obviously, there are many inconveniences in measuring and using imperial units. Therefore, a more scientific and stable weights and measures came into being. This is the International System of Units now used by most countries in the world, and is often called the metric system.
The International System of Units is based on the metric system created during the French Revolution, and one of its advantages is accuracy. Although its definition sounds equally confusing.
Taking 1 meter as an example, it was originally defined as “one forty millionth of the length of the longitude passing through Paris” . Based on this length, scientists created an international prototype meter.
However, the accuracy of the International Protometer will decrease with wear and tear from use. Later satellite measurements also confirmed that people’s measurement of the length of that longitude line was also not that accurate.
Therefore, people tried to define 1 meter in terms of light waves. In 1960, the definition of 1 meter was changed to ” 1650763.73 times the wavelength of the radiation of krypton-86 atoms transitioning between the 2p 10 and 5d 5 energy levels in a vacuum” .
With the development of the times, by the 1960s, the wavelength of krypton-86 could no longer meet the accuracy requirements of scientific research. In this case, lasers with better directionality and brightness entered the vision of scientists. In 1975, the length of 1 meter became “the length of the path that light travels in 1/299792458 seconds in a vacuum.” This standard is still used today.
Although the SI definition may sound outrageous at first, it is actually more scientific. No matter where you are in the world, you can get the same length, mass, temperature by definition… Secondly, the International System of Units is based on the decimal system, 1 kilometer = 1000 meters = 100000 centimeters, which is easy to calculate and convert.
Interestingly, even the United Kingdom abandoned the imperial system due to the needs of international trade and scientific research development. Today, except for areas such as road mileage and vehicle speed, the UK has basically completed the conversion to the International System of Units.
Why do these places still use the imperial system?
Some people talk about weather, some talk about football, but few people talk about measurement units. But actually, weights and measures are very important. Without it, we would not be able to trade, communicate smoothly and carry out scientific research activities.
Therefore, after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he immediately implemented “books with the same text, and cars with the same track”. After a victorious country occupies a place, it will also implement its own measurement units there. To some extent, weights and measures are closely related to national identity.
Because weights and measures are so ubiquitous, throughout global history large-scale changes in units of measurement have always occurred during periods of social change and upheaval. For example, the Soviet Union adopted the metric system after the October Revolution, India adopted the metric system after becoming independent from Britain, and many South American countries adopted the metric system in the early days of their founding.
The United States originally had similar plans in the early days of its founding. In 1793, founding father Thomas Jefferson even asked France for a set of metric standard measuring instruments. However, the ship transporting the measurer encountered pirates on the ocean, and the plan failed.
However, Jefferson later admitted that he had some resistance to the metric system, because the meter at that time was measured based on the meridian across Paris. As a rising star, why should the United States surrender to a system from the Old World?
The last large-scale promotion of metric units in the United States was in the 1970s. In 1975, then-President Gerald Ford signed the Metric Conversion Act. However, at that time, the United States’ economic aggregate was already among the largest in the world. As the saying goes, “the ship turns around in a disaster”, the replacement of weights and measures will seriously affect the production and life of all walks of life. In addition, the bill itself is not mandatory, so the United States missed another opportunity.
In 1999, the “Mars Climate Explorer” satellite launched by the United States crashed, and the culprit was weights and measures. At that time, the unit of power used on the satellite was the metric Newton, but ground personnel entered the British pound. As a result, satellites worth hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted.
So why do many places in life still use the imperial system? This is actually mainly due to habit.
Take electronic screens as an example. Many devices were originally manufactured in foreign countries, and industry standards followed the imperial system. Although the international unit system was later reformed, the imperial standard has become an industry habit. In addition, the imperial system is sometimes more convenient to use. For example, a 55-inch TV is 139.7 centimeters when converted to metric, which is inconvenient to calculate.
In addition to buying electronic products, what other imperial units have you encountered in your life?