We look ahead to the 400th anniversary of an innovation that simplified the measurement of land area, initially in England and later in the UK, by introducing decimals.
Category: History
Diaries, and a glimpse into the past
Many of us have probably bought a diary for 2018 recently. Ronnie Cohen takes a look at the conversion tables found at the front of many sold in the UK.
Alpine DIY and the generation gap
Happy New Year to all our readers.
In this article, the Editor explains the reason for the absence of new posts on MV in recent weeks. This leads to a discussion of a issue that few of us, perhaps, have encountered.
DfT has done no cost-benefit analysis on metrication of road signs
Ronnie Cohen draws some conclusions from a recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request that he made to the UK Department for Transport (DfT).
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Straight bananas and the metric system – the EU legacy?
With Brexit still dominating the news, Ronnie Cohen looks at one of the biggest obstacles to completing our transition to the metric system: its perceived link to the European Union.
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The American Influence on Canada’s Metrication
John Frewen-Lord, a frequent contributor to Metric Views, has just returned from one of his regular trips to Canada. He gives us his thoughts.
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A Dickensian surprise
Charles Dickens is enduringly popular for his memorable characters and his portrayal of the social evils of Victorian England. One of our regular readers, Martin Vlietstra, draws attention to an unexpected contribution he made to Britain’s long-running metrication debate.
Global Britain or Imperial isolation?
On 29 March, Sir Tim Barrow, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union, handed a signed six-page letter from the British Prime Minister to the President of the European Council, invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and confirming the UK’s intention to leave the EU. So where do we go from here?
Then there were two
We ask if it is time for supporters of so-called British weights and measures to come to terms with the fact that only two systems of weights and measures are recognised world wide, and British aka Imperial is not one of them.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
We take a look at the past year on Metric Views and speculate about what the future holds.
Metric Views 