Why Is the Metric System Used Instead of the English System?

History of the Metric System

• Systems of measurement based on decimals were proposed at various times throughout history but never adopted on a large scale. It was not until the French revolution in 1799 that the metric system was formalized and adopted by a country. As other European states went through revolutions and formations, they too adopted the metric system. In 1875, 17 countries signed an international treaty, called the Metric Convention, formalizing common standards for measurement.

The Metric System Today

• Today the metric system is hugely popular and is used in the vast majority of the world. The primary reasons that it is used in place of the Imperial system is that the decimal system and naming scheme make it easy to learn, and the standardized units simplify trade, science and other international interactions. Measurements like the foot, for example, were once based on the length of a person's foot, which is obviously quite arbitrary. A standardized system was needed, and the metric system was the result.

History of the Imperial System

• The imperial system evolved naturally from a need for common units of measurement. Most units were based on some aspect of the body that was roughly similar on most people. A foot, for example, was the length of your foot. In 1959, English-speaking nations that still used the Imperial system reached an agreement that defined a set metric equivalent for various measurements like a yard and a pound. This helped to introduce a degree of standardization to the Imperial measurement system.

The Imperial System Today

• Today almost all countries are on the metric system. The United States is the obvious exception, along with Brunei, Burma and Yemen. The United Kingdom has been pushed very hard by the European Union to adopt the metric system, and has, to a limited extent. Many countries still use Imperial units informally. Canadians, for instance, use some Imperial units, but this is mainly because of their close proximity to the United States. The Imperial system lacks many of the advantages of the metric system, like an intuitive naming scheme and a decimal system for converting between units, and this is what makes it unpopular as a measurement system.