The Metric System and the United States

Giunta, Carmen J.

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-28436-6_6

Carmen J. Giunta²

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science ((BRIESFHISTCHEM))

371 Accesses
3 Altmetric

Abstract

The United States is famously the largest of a very few nations whose everyday weights and measures are not metric. Less well known are the facts that the US was among the signatories of the Metre Convention in 1875 or that the meter and the kilogram have been the fundamental standards of length and mass in the US since the late nineteenth century. The US and the metric system have had several episodes of approach and avoidance over the whole of the lifetime of that system. This chapter describes briefly the history of the status of the metric system in the US. At present the system is legal in the US and is used in some applications; however, customary units remain the weights and measures most commonly employed by most people in the US for everyday purposes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic

€34.99 /Month

Get 10 units per month
Download Article/Chapter or eBook
1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
Cancel anytime

Buy Now

Chapter: EUR 29.95; Price includes VAT (Germany)

eBook: EUR 46.00; Price includes VAT (Germany)

Softcover Book: EUR 58.84; Price includes VAT (Germany)

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

') var buybox = document.querySelector("[data-id=id_"+ timestamp +"]").parentNode var buyingOptions = buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option") ;[].slice.call(buyingOptions).forEach(initCollapsibles) var buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth = 480 function initCollapsibles(subscription, index) { var toggle = subscription.querySelector(".buying-option-price") subscription.classList.remove("expanded") var form = subscription.querySelector(".buying-option-form") var priceInfo = subscription.querySelector(".price-info") var buyingOption = toggle.parentElement if (toggle && form && priceInfo) { toggle.setAttribute("role", "button") toggle.setAttribute("tabindex", "0") toggle.addEventListener("click", function (event) { var expandedBuyingOptions = buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option.expanded") var buyboxWidth = buybox.offsetWidth ;[].slice.call(expandedBuyingOptions).forEach(function(option) { if (buyboxWidth buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth) { toggle.click() } else { if (index === 0) { toggle.click() } else { toggle.setAttribute("aria-expanded", "false") form.hidden = "hidden" priceInfo.hidden = "hidden" } } }) } initialStateOpen() if (window.buyboxInitialised) return window.buyboxInitialised = true initKeyControls() })()

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

1.
Kelvins are not used for mass media meteorology; however, degrees Celsius are an SI unit, albeit not a base unit.
2.
Road signs in the United Kingdom still use miles.
3.
I use “non-metric” to describe nations like the US in which customary non-metric units predominate in everyday use. In the twenty-first century there are no countries that don’t use the metric system, as discussed below, and the metric system is used in the US.
4.
Actually, the resolution to distribute metric standards to the states came a day before the vote to legalize the system [9].
5.
In the context of this chapter, voluntary refers to the free choice of a business or other user of weights and measures in contrast to legal compulsion imposed by the sovereign government in which the business operates. In Chap. 3, recall, voluntary refers to a free choice of a sovereign government in contrast to a colonial or other occupying force.
6.
The 2021 amendment within the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 made no substantial changes, simply updating references to other parts of US law.

References

Vera H (2011) The social life of measures: metrication in the United States and Mexico, 1789–2004. Dissertation, New School
Google Scholar
Samoa (2015) Metrology act of 2015. https://www.mcil.gov.ws/storage/2018/07/Metrology-Act-2015.pdf. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
US Central Intelligence Agency (2022) World factbook. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/. Accessed 31 Oct 2022
Benham E (2020) Busting myths about the metric system. In: Taking measure: just a standard blog. NIST. https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/busting-myths-about-metric-system. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
US Federal Trade Commission (2022) Fair packaging and labeling act: Regulations under section 4 of the fair packaging and labeling act. https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/fair-packaging-labeling-act-regulations-under-section-4-fair-packaging-labeling-act. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
Jones SA (1936) Weights and measures in Congress. NBS Miscellaneous Publication M122, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
Google Scholar
Adams JQ (1821) Report of the Secretary of State, upon weights and measures. Gales and Seaton, Washington, DC
Google Scholar
US Metric Study (1971) A history of the metric system controversy in the United States. NBS Special Publ 345–10
Google Scholar
Judson LV (1976) Weights and measures standards of the United States: a brief history. NBS Special Publ 447
Google Scholar
Schooley J (2007) A bicentennial recognition of Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, a seminal figure for both NIST and NOAA. https://www.nist.gov/director/nbsnist-culture-excellence/bicentennial-recognition-ferdinand-rudolph-hassler-seminal. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
Tavernor R (2007) Anglo-Saxon resistance. Smoot’s ear: the measure of humanity. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, pp 118–147
Google Scholar
US Metric Study (1971) A metric America: a decision whose time has come. NBS Special Publ 345
Google Scholar
US Congress (1975) Metric conversion act of 1975. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-89/pdf/STATUTE-89-Pg1007.pdf. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
Smith JC (1998) Take me to your liter: a history of metrication in the United States. J Government Information 25(5):419–438
Article Google Scholar
GAO (1978) Getting a better understanding of the metric system: implications if adopted by the United States. https://www.gao.gov/assets/ced-78-128a.pdf. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
US Congress (1988) Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. https://www.congress.gov/100/statute/STATUTE-102/STATUTE-102-Pg1107.pdf. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
US Congress (2021) National defense authorization act for fiscal year 2022. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-117publ81/pdf/PLAW-117publ81.pdf. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
NIST Office of Weights and Measures (2022) Metric policy. https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/metric-si/metric-policy. Accessed 8 Nov 2022
Treese SA (2018) History and measurement of the base and derived units. Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp 84–85
Book MATH Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Chemistry, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, USA
Carmen J. Giunta

Authors

Carmen J. Giunta
View author publications
Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carmen J. Giunta .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Giunta, C.J. (2023). The Metric System and the United States. In: A Brief History of the Metric System. SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28436-6_6

Download citation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28436-6_6
Published: 16 April 2023
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-28435-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-28436-6
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics