The Metric System: What Happened?

by Bonnie
(Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA)

Thanks for the info on conversions—and the trip down memory lane. I especially like the chart showing the various temperatures in terms of Kelvin, Fahrenheit, and Celsius.

When I was a kid back in the 1960s, the local bank displayed the temperature in Celsius; I learned that I liked the temperature to be around 23 degrees Celsius which seemed to be about the high 70s in degrees Fahrenheit. When gas prices soared in the 1970s, gas was sold by the liter to make the prices more palatable. The metric system was discussed frequently when I was in school. All throughout elementary school and even into college, I was told by math teachers that eventually the United States would be using the metric system—which, of course, for everyday math stuff has not happened!

Despite the base 10 ease of the metric system, I still think in terms of feet and inches and can tell you that there’s 5280 feet in a mile or 1760 yards—and that a meter is 39.27 inches—and that a liter equals a quart plus shot. But that’s the extent of my knowledge of the metric system. I don’t have any need to use it in my job as an English teacher. My need for math at the moment lies largely in the calculation of grades, although I’m sure I could happily adapt to the metric system if it ever came to pass.

Barry's Response - Metrication in the United States has not taken hold like it did here in Canada starting in the 1970's. There has always been a push for it, but there has been even greater resistance.

Getting the big metric conversion, done and over with will put the US on par with the rest of the world. Thanks for your insights, Bonnie.