Content deleted Content added
Citation bot (talk | contribs) Add: date, website, title. Changed bare reference to CS1/2. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by BrownHairedGirl | #UCB_webform 6/2892 |
Subsitute template:PD-notice with template:citation-attribution more suitable wording and placed as a prescript. Possibly some other changes |
||
Line 19:
==Before the metric system==
{{
The [[Ancient Roman units of measurement|Roman]] empire used the ''pes'' (foot) measure. This was divided into 12 ''unciae'' ("inches"). The ''libra'' ("pound") was another measure that had wide effect on European weight and currency long after Roman times, e.g. lb, [[Pound sign|£]]. The measure came to vary greatly over time. [[Charlemagne]] was one of several rulers who launched reform programmes of various kinds to standardise units for measure and currency in his empire, but there was no real general breakthrough.
In medieval Europe, local laws on weights and measures were set by trade [[guild]]s on a city-by-city basis. For example, the ''[[ell]]'' or ''elle'' was a unit of length commonly used in Europe, but its length varied from 40.2 centimetres in one part of [[German unit|Germany]] to 70 centimetres in [[Dutch unit|The Netherlands]] and 94.5 centimetres in [[English unit#Scottish system|Edinburgh]]. A survey of [[Switzerland]] in 1838 revealed that the ''foot'' had 37 different regional variations, the ''ell'' had 68, there were 83 different measures for dry grain, 70 measures for fluids and 63 different measures for "dead weights".<ref name="McGreevy1995">{{Cite book |
The desire for a single international system of measurement came largely from increasing international trade and the need to apply common [[International standard|standards]] to goods. For a company to buy a product produced in another country, they needed to know that the product would arrive as described. The medieval ''ell'' was abandoned in part because its value was not standardised. One primary advantage of the International System of Units (SI) is simply that it is international, and the pressure on countries to conform to it grew as it became increasingly the international standard. It also simplifies the teaching and learning of measurement as all SI units are based on a handful of base units (in particular, the metre, kilogram and second cover the majority of everyday measurements), using decimal prefixes to cover all magnitudes. This contrasts with pre-metric units, which largely have names that do not relate directly to one another (e.g. ''inch'', ''foot'', ''yard'', ''mile'') and are related to one another by inconsistent ratios which must be memorised (e.g. 12, 3, 1760). As the values in an SI expression are always decimal (i.e. without vulgar fractions) and mixed units (such as "feet and inches") are not used with SI, measurements are easy to add and multiply. Scientific measurement and calculation are greatly simplified as the units for electricity, force etc. are part of the SI system and hence are all interrelated in a coherent manner (e.g. 1 J = 1 kg·m<sup>2</sup>·s<sup>−2</sup> = 1 V·A·s). Standardisation of measures has contributed significantly to the industrial revolution and technological development in general{{According to whom|date=August 2012}}. SI is not the only example of international standardisation; several powerful international standardisation organisations exist for various industries, such as the [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO), the [[International Electrotechnical Commission]] (IEC), and the [[International Telecommunication Union]] (ITU).
Line 42:
[[File:Metric system French adoption decree (1795).jpg|thumb|upright|National Convention decree of April 1795 establishing the metric system]]
The metre was adopted as exclusive measure in 1801 under the [[French Consulate]], then the [[First French Empire]] until 1812, when [[Napoleon]] decreted the introduction of the ''[[mesures usuelles]]'' which remained in use in France up to 1840 in the reign of [[Louis Philippe I|Louis Philippe]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Larousse|first=Pierre (1817-1875) Auteur du texte|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k205363w|title=Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle : français, historique, géographique, mythologique, bibliographique.... T. 11 MEMO-O / par M. Pierre Larousse|date=1866–1877|pages=163}}</ref> Meanwhile, the metre was adopted by the Republic of Geneva.<ref name=":5" /> After the joining of [[canton of Geneva]] to Switzerland in 1815, [[Guillaume Henri Dufour]] published the first Swiss official map for which the metre was adopted as unit of length.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> A Swiss-French binational officer, [[Napoleon III|Louis Napoléon Bonaparte]] was present when a baseline was measured near [[Zürich]] for [[Topographic Map of Switzerland|Dufour map]] which would win the gold medal for the national map at the [[Exposition Universelle (1855)|Exposition Universelle of 1855]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Durand|first=Roger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-8LnQ9iF04C|title=Guillaume-Henri Dufour dans son Temps 1787-1875|date=1991|publisher=Librairie Droz|isbn=978-2-600-05069-2|pages=145|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Napoleon III.|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/023316/2010-11-02/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=hls-dhs-dss.ch|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-14|title=Henri Dufour et la carte de la Suisse|url=https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/fr/2019/07/dufour-le-cartographe/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=Musée national - Blog sur l'histoire suisse|language=fr-FR}}</ref> Among the scientific instruments calibrated on the metre, which were displayed at the Exposition Universelle, was [[Jean Brunner|Brunner]] apparatus, a geodetic instrument devised for measuring the central baseline of Spain whose designer, [[Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero]] would represent Spain at the [[International Statistical Institute]]. In addition of the Exposition Universelle and the second Statistical Congress held in Paris, an International Association for obtaining a uniform decimal system of measures, weights, and coins was created there in 1855.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Quinn|first=T. J|url=|title=From artefacts to atoms: the BIPM and the search for ultimate measurement standards|date=2012|isbn=978-0-19-990991-9|pages=8|oclc=861693071}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Yates|first=James|url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=mAo_AAAAYAAJ|title=Narrative of the Origin and Formation of the International Association for Obtaining a Uniform Decimal System of Measures, Weights and Coins|date=1856|publisher=Bell and Daldy|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Brenni|first=Paolo|date=1996|title=19th Century French Scientific Instrument Makers - XI: The Brunners and Paul Gautier|url=https://www.unav.es/gep/TheBrunnersCartaParis.pdf|journal=Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society|volume=49|pages=3–5|via=UNAV}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Appell|first=Paul|date=1925|title=Le centenaire du général Ibañez de Ibéro|url=https://education.persee.fr/doc/revin_1775-6014_1925_num_79_1_7841|journal=Revue internationale de l'enseignement|volume=79|issue=1|pages=208–211}}</ref> Copies of the Spanish standard would be made for Egypt, France and Germany.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tardi|first=Pierre (1897-1972) Auteur du texte|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3355272d|title=Traité de géodésie / par le capitaine P. Tardi ; préface par le général G. Perrier|date=1934|pages=25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Zuerich|first=ETH-Bibliothek|title=Procès-verbaux des séances de la commission géodésique suisse|url=https://www.e-periodica.ch//digbib/view?pid=bsn-001%3A1877%3A11%3A%3A853|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-22|website=E-Periodica|pages=14, 18|language=fr}}</ref> These standards were compared to each other and with Borda apparatus which was the main reference for measuring all geodetic baselines in France.<ref>{{Cite book|last=texte|first=Ismāʿīl-Afandī Muṣṭafá (1825-1901) Auteur du|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62478474|title=Recherche des coefficients de dilatation et étalonnage de l'appareil à mesurer les bases géodésiques appartenant au gouvernement égyptien / par Ismaïl-Effendi-Moustapha, ...|date=1864}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uiwPAAAAQAAJ&q=Exp%C3%A9riences+faites+avec+l'appareil+%C3%A0+mesurer+les+bases+appertant+%C3%A0+la+commission+de+la+carte+d'Espagne|title=Expériences faites avec l'appareil à mesurer les bases appertant à la commission de la carte d'Espagne /: ouvrage publié par ordre de la reine|date=1860|publisher=J. Dumaine|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Soler|first=T.|date=1997-02-01|title=A profile of General Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero: first president of the International Geodetic Association|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s001900050086|journal=Journal of Geodesy|volume=71|issue=3|pages=176–188|doi=10.1007/s001900050086|bibcode=1997JGeod..71..176S |s2cid=119447198|issn=1432-1394}}</ref> These comparisons were essential, because of the [[Thermal expansion|expansibility]] of solid materials with raise in temperature. Indeed, one fact had constantly dominated all the fluctuations of ideas on the measurement of geodesic bases: it was the constant concern to accurately assess the temperature of standards in the field; and the determination of this variable, on which depended the length of the instrument of measurement, had always been considered by [[Geodesy|geodesists]] as so difficult and so important that one could almost say that the history of measuring instruments is almost identical with that of the precautions taken to avoid temperature errors.<ref>{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite journal|last=Guillaume|first=Ch-Ed|date=1906|title=La mesure rapide des bases géodésiques|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jphystap:019060050024200|journal=Journal de Physique Théorique et Appliquée|language=fr|volume=5|issue=1|pages=242–263|doi=10.1051/jphystap:019060050024200|issn=0368-3893}}
During the nineteenth century the metric system of weights and measures proved a convenient political compromise during the unification processes in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. In 1814, Portugal became the second country not part of the French Empire to officially adopt the metric system. Spain found it expedient in 1849 to follow the French example and within a decade [[Latin America]] had also adopted the metric system, or had already adopted the system, such as the case of Chile by 1848. There was considerable resistance to metrication in the United Kingdom and in the United States, despite these were actually the first country in the World to use a metric standard for cartography.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
Line 262:
In 1965 the UK began an official programme of metrication that, as of {{currentyear}}, has not been completed and has effectively been halted.
In the [[United Kingdom]] metric is the official system for most regulated trading by weight or measure purposes, but some imperial units remain the primary official unit of measurement. For example, [[mile]]s, [[yard]]s, and [[Foot (unit)|feet]] remain the official units for road signage
| isbn = 978-0-349-11507-8
| last = Alder
Line 364:
{{Legend|#F00|Little adoption|css=" title="color=#F00}}
]]
''Links in the '''country/region''' point to articles about metrication in that country/region.''<ref>{{cite web
Line 866 ⟶ 865:
|url=http://trend.ag.utk.edu/international/ReformingCocoaCoffeeMarketingLiberia.pdf
|title=Reforming Cocoa and Coffee Marketing in Liberia
|
|year=2008
|work=Presentation and Policy Brief
Line 936 ⟶ 935:
[[File:Metric length shower hose with imperial fittings.jpg|thumb|upright|A shower hose sold in Germany with metric length (150 cm) and imperial (1/2 in) fittings.]]
*In [[plumbing]], some pipes and pipe threads are still designated in inch sizes due to historic international acceptance of particular sequences of pipe sizes and pipe threads, such as [[British Standard Pipe|BSP/ISO 7/EN 10226]] threads.
*In the United Kingdom and some [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth states]], temperatures of domestic gas ovens are often displayed in [[gas mark]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Conversion Guides|url=http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/conversion-guides|website=BBC Good Food|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Cooking Conversion Charts|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/nov/24/foodanddrink.baking6|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref> Similarly, old French ovens and recipe books often use a scale based on the Fahrenheit scale, called [[Gas mark|Thermostats]] (Th), where Th 1 equals 100
*Car and bicycle rim diametres are still usually set as whole inch measurements, with tyre widths are measured in millimetres.
*[[Dots per inch]] and [[Pixel density|pixels per inch]] are still used to describe graphical resolution with computers and printing.
Line 997 ⟶ 996:
Immediately following the United Kingdom's [[Brexit|vote to withdraw from the European Union]], it was reported that some retailers requested to revert to imperial units, with some reverting without permission. A poll following the 2016 vote also found that 45% of Britons sought to revert to selling produce in imperial units.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/08/31/after-brexit-some-brits-want-to-ditch-the-metric-system-too/ |title=After Brexit, some Brits want to ditch the metric system, too |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=4 October 2016}}</ref>
The UK government started a biased<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/18/metric-system-imperial-measures-consultation-brexit | title=Jacob Rees-Mogg's imperial measurements consultation 'biased' after no option given to say no | website=[[TheGuardian.com]] | date=18 September 2022 }}</ref> consultation on
Imperial units remain in common everyday use for human body measurements, in particular [[stone (unit)|stone]]s and [[pound (mass)|pound]]s for weight, and [[foot (unit)|feet]] and [[inch]]es for height.
Line 1,012 ⟶ 1,011:
After many years of informal or optional metrication, the American public and much of the private business and industry still use US customary units today.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1999/01/zengerle.html|title=Waits and Measures|work=Mother Jones|access-date=24 November 2014}}</ref> At least two states, Kentucky and California, have even moved towards demetrication of highway construction projects.<ref>[http://transportation.ky.gov/design/memos/11-98.htm] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124224700/http://transportation.ky.gov/design/memos/11-98.htm |date=24 November 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/design/stp/memo/metric-to-english-transition.pdf|title=Metric to U.S. Customary Units (English) Transition|access-date=15 December 2017|publisher=Dot.ca.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091109/http://www.dot.ca.gov/design/stp/memo/metric-to-english-transition.pdf|archive-date=16 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/design/stp/memo/UOM-Metric_or_English.pdf
|title=Declaration of Units of
|date=16 June 2006
|publisher=State of California, Department of Transportation
|
|access-date=15 December 2017
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216034812/http://www.dot.ca.gov/design/stp/memo/UOM-Metric_or_English.pdf
| |||