Metrics
This article is derived from an essay I wrote for a college class.
I chose this topic because I wanted something interesting to write about,
and I wanted a challenge. The relationships between technology, history,
and human society fascinate me. In writing it is easy to go with the flow
of the world’s “correct” opinions, but to write intelligently crosswise
to the flow (not against, that is too easy) is a good challenge. The superiority
of the metric system of measurement, and the need for national conversion
to metric measures, is one of those articles of faith we all learned in
high school. And, many high school students (and those with a high school
mentality) will do a good job writing on this for a grade. So, why not
write an essay crosswise to the “correct” arguments. It all started back
in 1975, when Congress passed a law, the Metric Conversion Act, mandating
national conversion to the metric system by 1985. The conversion didn’t
happen. The story of why it didn’t happen is much more fascinating than
any of the arguments put forward favoring or opposing conversion. Please
click the link and read.