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To be fair the metric system was introduced by a military dictatorship. Science enforced by the sword.

by AniseAbyss 6y ago

oblio 6y ago
Most of the countries that adopted later didn't adopt it at gunpoint. They were just... humble :-)
- rob74 6y ago
  or sensible?
ngold 6y ago
Well it was Frances first revolution. It took a couple to get right...ish.
Jedd 6y ago
Introduced ... where? The distance components were created (arguably) about a hundred years before bits of Europe adopted it. When I was in Greenwich (the real one) years ago, our guide told the story, which may be apocryphal, that the Brits negotiated with the French way back about the meridian. The Brits got to keep the prime meridian by agreeing to adopt metric. Which they then failed do to do for a couple of centuries (and even then ...). Unfortunately I can't find anything to substantiate this story just now.
- fanf2 6y ago
  Greenwich became the standard meridian at the International Meridian Conference in Washington DC in 1884 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Meridian_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Meridian_Confere... It was at the instigation of the USA and it was partly to do with the establishment of the time zone system, and partly to do with marine navigation charts. Britain had the best charts at the time so there was a significant practical reason to bless Greenwich (with 180° being the second choice). The French obviously did not like the result, but there wasn’t any quid pro quo about adopting the metric system.
ajuc 6y ago
IMPERIAL system was introduced by an expansionist colonial empire and was based on ROMAN mile (the state that was built on slavery and conquest). I don't think you should choose your units basing on ethics, but even if you do it's not a great choice :) BTW Napoleon is to this day a hero in some countries (for example in Poland). We even have him in our national anthem :) He temporarily recreated Polish state and freed us from another military dictatorship (Tzar Russia). I find it funny how he's viewed in English-speaking countries as "almost the Hitler" while Catherine the Great for example is perfectly fine. It's the exact opposite in Poland :)
- Jedd 6y ago
  Two days ago I finished Simon Winder's Danubia (second in his trilogy) -- a tremendously fascinating and enjoyable summary of the history of that region over the past millennium. That whole region is chock-full of fascinating counter-factual / alternative-histories based on the tiniest 'what ifs' (someone lived an extra year, didn't die of smallpox, didn't choose to build the wrong church in that town that year, didn't stupidly assume an entire foe nation could be defeated in 6 weeks, etc). From here (Australia, with a generally pro-British syllabus at school) Napoleon is taught as a generally successful, but ultimately bad, force.

To be fair the metric system was introduced by a military dictatorship. Science enforced by the sword.

oblio 6y ago

Most of the countries that adopted later didn't adopt it at gunpoint. They were just... humble :-)

rob74 6y ago
or sensible?

ngold 6y ago

Well it was Frances first revolution. It took a couple to get right...ish.

Jedd 6y ago

Introduced ... where? The distance components were created (arguably) about a hundred years before bits of Europe adopted it. When I was in Greenwich (the real one) years ago, our guide told the story, which may be apocryphal, that the Brits negotiated with the French way back about the meridian. The Brits got to keep the prime meridian by agreeing to adopt metric. Which they then failed do to do for a couple of centuries (and even then ...). Unfortunately I can't find anything to substantiate this story just now.

fanf2 6y ago
Greenwich became the standard meridian at the International Meridian Conference in Washington DC in 1884 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Meridian_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Meridian_Confere... It was at the instigation of the USA and it was partly to do with the establishment of the time zone system, and partly to do with marine navigation charts. Britain had the best charts at the time so there was a significant practical reason to bless Greenwich (with 180° being the second choice). The French obviously did not like the result, but there wasn’t any quid pro quo about adopting the metric system.

ajuc 6y ago

IMPERIAL system was introduced by an expansionist colonial empire and was based on ROMAN mile (the state that was built on slavery and conquest). I don't think you should choose your units basing on ethics, but even if you do it's not a great choice :) BTW Napoleon is to this day a hero in some countries (for example in Poland). We even have him in our national anthem :) He temporarily recreated Polish state and freed us from another military dictatorship (Tzar Russia). I find it funny how he's viewed in English-speaking countries as "almost the Hitler" while Catherine the Great for example is perfectly fine. It's the exact opposite in Poland :)

Jedd 6y ago
Two days ago I finished Simon Winder's Danubia (second in his trilogy) -- a tremendously fascinating and enjoyable summary of the history of that region over the past millennium. That whole region is chock-full of fascinating counter-factual / alternative-histories based on the tiniest 'what ifs' (someone lived an extra year, didn't die of smallpox, didn't choose to build the wrong church in that town that year, didn't stupidly assume an entire foe nation could be defeated in 6 weeks, etc). From here (Australia, with a generally pro-British syllabus at school) Napoleon is taught as a generally successful, but ultimately bad, force.