In USMA 18238 Christopher Scollo is quoted as saying: >>> I'm finding this thread to be a bit sensationalist. Can anyone point to >>any evidence that the US is trying to impose its measurement system on other >>nations? >>> >>> I acknowledge that the US is often arrogant and is usually very successful >>at promoting its interests abroad (more so than any other nation, at least); >>but I have never seen any sign that the US wishes other nations to stop >>using SI. >>> >>> The only change that I have noticed -- gradual though it may be -- is that >>SI has been slipping into the US, mostly at the whim of businesses. Thirty >>or forty years ago, Americans had no concept of a litre. Now they buy 1-, >>2-, and 3-litre bottles of cola. I am not suggesting that the US is simply >>becoming metricised on its own; it clearly has a long way to go, and there >>is much left for advocates to do. But it seems ludicrous to imply that the >>"war on terrorism" will inevitably lead to an attempt to make the world use >>feet and pounds, or that SI will somehow ameliorate geo-political tension. >>What it *will* do is simplify manufacturing, trade, communication, and >>travel. >>> >>> I don't see the conspiracy, here. But maybe I'm just not seeing the signs. >>So I ask again: Can anyone point to any evidence that the US is trying to >>impose its measurement system on other nations? >>> >>> -- Christopher Scollo
I have an undated report from the Japan Metric System Promotion Committee probably written about 1965, which says: "After the war, foreign armies and their families came and stayed in our country, and many materials for economic rehabilitation were importerd from America or England. Because of this, the use of the foot-pound system in our country gradually increased. Materials previously sold in the metric system changed their indications to the foot-pound system--for example, gasoline from liter to gallon, cloths from meter to yard. Again we came to use a mixture of three systems, Shaku-Kan, foot-pound, and metre-kilogram. "Meanwhile, there arose the necessity to revise the old weights and measures law completely, because it had become partly out of date. In the deliberation of the old law, the committee members agreed unanimously to unify the confused system to the metric one. It was very fortunate that the leaders of the occupation armies also believed that it was reasonable to adopt the metric system that had already spread widely in Japan." I have an English translation of the Measurement Law, Japan (Law No.207, 1051). Joseph B.Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 TEL. 416-486-6071
