There is much to be learned from Australia’s highly successful 1970s metrication programme. In a previous Metric Views article, we looked at two information leaflets produced by Australia’s Metric Conversion Board; Temperature and Pressure go Metric and Motoring goes Metric. Both leaflets were part of intensive public information campaigns in the lead up to “M-days” for weather forecasting and motoring – specific days on which measurement units switched from the old units to modern metric units.
In this article, we take a look at another of their leaflets, Think Metric – It’s Easy.
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This tri-fold leaflet, produced in 1973, gives information about Australia’s metrication programme as a whole. It describes the thinking behind the conversion process, and emphasises how simple metrication can be once the “prop” of imperial conversions is abandoned. The leaflet advises readers to “forget the imperial system and, instead, associate familiar objects and situations with metric values”.
For example, converting every occurrence of Celsius temperature to degrees Fahrenheit adds an unnecessary layer of complication that discourages the switch to metric. Instead, learning typical Celsius temperatures for a handful of “recognition points” can be quick and straight forward. This strategy enabled Australia to switch from Fahrenheit to Celsius in weather forecasts in a single day. In contrast, in the UK, more than sixty years after nominally switching to Celsius, some British weather forecasters still use dual units for temperatures.
As the leaflet’s title says, “Think Metric – It’s Easy”. This is a strategy that UKMA fully endorses, and has devoted a website to.
The following is from the main body of the text in the leaflet:
About 95% of the world’s population live in metric countries, or countries which have announced an intention to convert to SI. Australia made the decision to convert in 1970. Few adults will need to learn everything about SI. It will be important, however, to gain an appreciation of “everyday” metric units – such as units of mass (weight), length, volume, area, and speed – and to think metric. For example, one should think of a man of average build as weighing about 75 kilograms and being about 175 centimetres tall.
Increasingly, we are being involved in our new metric environment. Our weather information is metric, horseracing, football, cricket and Olympic sports are metric. We buy wine and beer in metric quantities, our wool is sold in kilograms. Next year we will be reading metric road maps and road signs and measuring our speed in kilometres per hour.
Teaching in metric units began in primary schools at the beginning of this year. Secondary schools will follow suit through 1973 and 1974. By the end of 1973 it is anticipated that about half the goods available on supermarket shelves will be marked in metric units only. Already building plans are being accepted in metric units, and houses built to metric specifications.
Use of the imperial system as a “prop” to understand metric measurement will confuse rather than foster confidence in thinking metric. What we must do is forget the imperial system and, instead, associate familiar objects and situations with metric values. The “recognition points” in this pamphlet will help you feel at home with the units we are using in our metric environment.”
Further reading
M-days in Australia
https://metricviews.uk/2019/09/25/m-days-in-australia/
Think Metric! – A UKMA website
https://thinkmetric.uk
Metric Views 