Today is exactly 150 years since the Metre Convention was signed by 17 nations. This treaty established the use of the metric system internationally and created the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) and the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM), organizations with different roles, to co-ordinate international efforts to standardize measurements.
Continue reading “Happy 150th anniversary to the Metre Convention”Category: General
Lib Dems block ability of Minister to allow metric measures for draught beer
The Liberal Democrats have become the latest political party to join the populist “save the pint” bandwagon. However, on this occasion their action will not only preserve the use of the imperial pint as the only legal measurement unit for the dispensing of draught beer, but arguably it will also prevent government Ministers from allowing metric measures for draught beer in the future, even if only as an optional alternative to pints.
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Could metrication have shortened World War I by 2 years, and saved millions of lives?
In a follow up to an article last year, about the occasion in 1904 when Parliament came close to fully-adopting the metric system, we consider one of the possible consequences of this failure.
What has changed since VBM was published?
Twenty years have passed since the UK Metric Association published “A Very British Mess” (VBM). To mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of VBM, I look at what has changed since its publication in 2004.
Continue reading “What has changed since VBM was published?”Which non-SI units are accepted for use with the SI?
SPOILER ALERT:
The official UK and USA metrology websites are INACCURATE
Since the inception of the International System of Units (SI) in 1960, it has always been recognised that some non-SI units, such as the litre, minute and hour, are “widely used and are expected to continue to be used for many years”.
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50 years of metric road signs in Australia
1 July 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the switch to metric road signs in Australia.
For about a year before the change, car manufacturers fitted dual speedometers to their vehicles and, after 1974 all new cars were fitted with metric-only speedometers. Several kinds of speedometer conversion kits were available. As a result of all these changes, conversion on the roads occurred without incident.
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Do our motorway junction numbers hinder the use of driver location signs?
Recent Metric Views articles have discussed the poor awareness of the meaning of driver location signs amongst the general public, and argued that despite their inclusion in recent editions of the Highway Code, there is still a need for a new public information campaign about these signs.
However, could there be another reason why driver location signs are poorly understood? And is there a solution that would both increase public awareness and increase their use?
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How did campaigners for the metric system get their message across 120 years ago?
120 years ago, in addition to the activities of their members, the Decimal Association made use of pamphlets to make their case for the adoption of the metric system in place of the bewildering array of imperial weights and measures that were in use at the time.
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House of Lords votes in favour of full adoption of the metric system
With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee still fresh in people’s memories, and with a new King on the throne, it is a momentous time in our country’s history as the House of Lords votes unanimously to switch to the sole use of the metric system for all official purposes within a 2-year period.
The vote was undoubtedly influenced by the massive public support recently expressed in favour of the metric system.
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What are binary prefixes?
When four new SI prefixes were added to the International System of Units (SI) in November 2022, one of the main reasons cited for their need was for their use in data science, where the numbers involved in describing quantities of information have become ever larger. e.g. The amount of data generated by the internet is projected to hit 175 zettabytes by 2025.
