Measure for measure – how metric (almost) rules the world
We’ve been counting in tens for more than 50 years, but many of us are still fond of the old ways.
Fun facts
While Australia officially follows the SI, a few interesting anomalies exist.
For example, while individual eggs have been measured in grams for decades, they still come in packs of a dozen or half-dozen.
And a remarkable number of Australians still refer to their height in feet and inches rather than centimetres.
Due to US dominance in aviation, most (but, worryingly, not all) pilots still use feet for height and knots for speed.
It may seem just like yesterday that we were talking about pounds, ounces, inches and degrees Fahrenheit, but the International Standard of Units (SI) — also known as the metric system — has been around in Australia since the 1960s.
If Dollar Bill — the character used in advertisements to usher out imperial currency — were a real person, he'd be thinking about retirement by now.
Decimal currency was introduced in February 1966, and the metric system of weights and measurements was taught in Australian schools from very soon afterwards — first alongside the old system, and then instead of it.
The formal adoption of the metric system began in 1971 with the wool industry. The following year, horse-racing abandoned furlongs in favour of metres, and we began to record temperatures in Celsius rather than Fahrenheit.
In July 1974, all types of measurements were officially changed, including speed limits on road signs, and by 1988, metrication was complete.
But even then, Australia was quite late to the party.
The SI was first developed in France during the late 18th century in a bid to create a "rational" system based on scientific principles rather than the various complicated and inconsistent systems that existed at the time.
Each standard metric unit is defined in relation to a fundamental constant of nature. For example, the metre is defined as the distance travelled by light in a vacuum during a specific interval of time.
More to the point, counting in tens is much easier than remembering multiples of 12 or having to know that freezing point is 32 degrees rather than the more sensible 0.
The SI was officially adopted in France in 1795 and spread gradually from there.
But there are still a few holdouts, including Liberia, Myanmar, North Korea – and the United States of America.
In the US, the cost of conversion is often cited as a reason for remaining with the old measurements, which came their way via Britain (although American measurements for volume — fluid ounces, pints and gallons — are different to the British measurements of the same name).
However, the American federal government does encourage the use of the metric system in certain fields, such as science, medicine, and the military. Many industries, such as car manufacturers, have voluntarily adopted SI.
One area of measurement where we won't be seeing metrics is time. While a 10-hour day, 10-day week and 10-week year might make some sense, the current system aligns with the rotation of the Earth, works well, and is deeply entrenched worldwide.
