165 years ago, in his opening address at the London meeting of the International Statistical Congress, held on 16 July 1860, Prince Albert drew attention to the measurement muddle prevalent at the time, and was in no doubt that the muddle would have to go.
Words from his speech were included in the 1862 Report From The Select Committee On Weights And Measures, dated 15 July 1862.
Continue reading “Prince Albert and the measurement muddle in the 1860s”
Martin Vlietstra looks at our counting system and explains why we count in tens and not in twelves. Our counting system and the metric system are both decimal based (i.e. they use base 10). The entire metric system is based on tens and powers or ten, which fits in neatly with our counting system and makes calculations easy.
Continue reading “Why count in tens rather than twelves?”Odometers in vehicles measure distances travelled in tenths of a kilometre or tenths of a mile, depending on the unit used in the target market. A tenth of a mile is 176 yards. However, there is nothing on British roads that is measured by tenths of a mile.
Continue reading “Tenths of a mile on UK odometers relate to nothing on British roads”The development of the metric system was a truly international effort. The British have made substantial contributions to its development. The metric is in effect an English invention. Metrication was first proposed by an Englishman, the Reverend John Wilkins in 1668. British scientists have been at the forefront of developing the metric system, and many have given their names to metric units, including Newton, Faraday, Joule, Kelvin and Watt.
Continue reading “British contributions to the metric system”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.
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.
This is a question that often arises during discussions on the merits of the metric system. Martin Vlietstra, one of our regular readers, provides some thoughts on the matter, coincidentally on 10 October.
Whitworth is famous for the eponymous screw thread, and for his promotion of standard measures and interchangeability that brought about an engineering revolution. Less well known are his enthusiasm for decimal measurement and his opposition to the introduction of the metric system in Britain.
Fifteen years ago, on 1 January 1999, the euro was introduced as an accounting currency. Notes and coins were introduced three years later. Whilst there are arguments for and against the euro, and UKMA takes no position on this issue, no one challenged at the time that the single currency would be decimal.
For many in Britain, the metric system and decimal measures are the same. Sunday’s once-in-a-century date provides an opportunity to consider the link between the two.
Metric Views 