Handy Guide for TreeHugger's Conversion to Metric
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 01. 6.09
Only those three last bastions of freedom and the right to choose, the United States, Liberia, and Burma, still do not use the Metric System. Until now, one could justify this on the basis that the Imperial American system was human scaled, based on our body's dimensions and things we naturally understood. (Like 0 is really cold and 100 is really hot, who cares about water boiling and freezing?)
Randall Munroe to the rescue, with his guide to getting a feel for metric, full of universal cultural touchstones that everyone can relate to, like the volume of Summer Glau or the length of a Lightsaber. This should be on the wall of every classroom in America.
In all seriousness, the new green economy will be built on the metric system. Right now the world's wind turbines and photovoltaics are built in Germany and Asia to metric standards. If America is going to be part of this international trend, it is going to have to be part of the international standard. Learn it all from XKCD
It's A Good Time For America To Go Metric
Forget Metric or American Measures, Just Be Sensible
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Honestly!?!?!?
You're writing about the metric system? Who cares what system people use. I'm a contract engineer who works with different companies that deal with the US and world alike and I've learned that it doesn't matter what system you use as long as you have a conversion system.
Saying that one system is better than another is just as dumb as saying that apples are better than oranges. Both system have logical, but arbitrary increments. If a company wanted to have all their equipment measured in 'marklucks' then I'll measure them in marklucks. As long as there is a conversion chart ready at hand, I don't care.
Seriously, get back on topic and stop filling the Treehugger blog with useless filler that has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the environment other than the fact that they used 'green products' to prove their point.
Looks like I'm not the only one with the hots for Summer Glau. How hot you say? Around Beach weather.(See Source link)
I can see where the ability to store 3L in every two-liter bottle alone makes the conversion to metric imperative.
I like the English systeem. Its a challenge to handle factors of 12 and 16, it limbers up the brain muscles. It's a little archaic and rustic.
Can the "Post an intelligent and civil comment" button be changed to "Post an intelligent and civil article" for Lloyd? The insulting tone gets to be annoying and detracts from the discussion at hand. There are very good reasons for the US to go metric, but the filter gets turned on when one feels the author's disdain coming through.
Yes, metric is better. You can go 100km/hr on roads legally!!! 100! Now, that's about 62.3mi/hr, but it is SO much better go 100.
Plus teachers across the country have to reteach the metric system to students every year, taking up valuable class time. Wonder why we're behind everyone else in math and science? Using a nonsensical measurement system doesn't help.
It's time to put the Imperial system to rest and use the system that (nearly) the entire world uses. US, Liberia and Burma... great company we keep.
It is a fact that with the metric system less errors occur, thus things are more efficient. Imperial/American system is simply not standardized and the metric system is. It all fit together and was logically based around water. eg. 1g of fresh water is 1cm cubed , one liter of water is one kg, boiling occurs at 100 degrees C. Imperial/American, now that is completely arbirary, conversions between masses, lengths, all that are in decimal or fractions, Ugh. so much wasted time. America already uses the metric system for all science and medicine, don't be afraid just join the rest of the world.
in the UK they still use miles and yards etc for distance. It's rather silly when the rest of Europe uses the metric system for distance.
I think it's to difficult now to change over to the metric system for countries that still use the old system. It would cost to much money and waste a lot of resources creating new signs and diagrams etc for the new metric system.
TC:
All it takes is a conversion chart? We must be doing something wrong in our hanger then, with two complete sets of spare nuts & bolts; most of which are 'aircraft certified' and therefore cost a fortune. The mechanics love having to own a full set of tools for the American airplanes (the old majority) and a metric set for all the rest. I think a basic set of hand tools is $10,000, doubled if you ever see the opposite aircraft in your hanger.
Personally I think the USA should convert to Whitworth. This would parallel the USA's 'coal heat revolution' while the rest of the world is going 'passivhaus'.
Having the entire world convert to the metric system would save companies a heck of a lot of time and money. Probably make it easier on teachers who have to teach the antiquated foot and inches relationship garbage.
up here in canada, people tend to use a hybrid system, where we measure & weight human-scale things in imperial, but driving distances & temperature in metric.
1 liter = just enough beer to "plottz" you
200 ml and 400 ml = small and large sized blood donations (before or after that liter of beer)
...from experience...
Or, we could place greater value on numeracy in education. No one should ever have to care what units things are given in, and if you have difficulty converting from inches to centimeters, you need to go back to elementary school for a refresher course.
Or just ask google. Try searching "3 inches in km," or "sqrt(7 Pi / e)"
To the typical stupid American engineer up above, obviously you are not a blue collar worker, all you do is push a pencil around and buttons on a computer. The rest of us have to spend our hard earned money on TWO SETS of tools, double the expense in order for us to work. No thanks to our republican fool politicians who do not want to change our great American ways. The typical fools that sit behind desks are the ones that make the rules. I refuse to buy another english tool, it is only metric for me for now on.