On 3-4 February 2022, YouGov did a survey about Britons’ preferences for using imperial and metric units for different purposes. It showed that the younger the age group, the stronger the preference for metric units.
Continue reading “Metric popularity rises with youth”Category: General
Queen’s Jubilee celebrations to include return of imperial units?
Over the weekend, various news items announced (again) that it was the Government’s intention for us to return to the use of imperial units.
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Decimal measurement of area
Martin Vliestra looks at key steps in the search for a simple system of measuring area.
Continue reading “Decimal measurement of area”A paradox of our measurement muddle
Should the UK have one measurement system or two? We highlight a paradox in UK government policy.
Continue reading “A paradox of our measurement muddle”The 1972 White Paper on Metrication – 50 years on
2022 sees the 50th anniversary of the 1972 White Paper on Metrication – a policy document that set out the Government’s plans for the nation’s metrication programme in the 1970s.
The publication of the White Paper was approved at a Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 11 January 1972.
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Does the UK’s mixed use of metric and imperial give us a unique ‘superpower’?
When arguing against the completion of metrication, opponents sometimes claim that the UK’s current muddled use of metric units for some things, and imperial for others, gives us an advantage that should be envied when it comes to measurement, in that it somehow makes us ‘bilingual’ in both systems.
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1980s – a turning point
Ronnie Cohen remembers how the loss of consensus on both the reform of the UK’s measurement units and on its membership of the European Community changed the course of history.
Continue reading “1980s – a turning point”Two-system muddle – now sorted?
If you are frustrated when navigating your way through Britain’s muddle of two measurement systems, then help is at hand. But first we outline how the country got itself into this mess.
Continue reading “Two-system muddle – now sorted?”