If you are accustomed to the metric system, imperial units can be perplexing. There is logic in the fact that there are 1,000 meters in a kilometer or ten centimeters in a […]
Measuring By the Meter, Foot, and Smoot
All Meters Go Through Paris
The history of how the unit of length known as the foot ended up being 12 inches is long and varied. When it came time to develop a metric unit of length, […]
Freezing at 100 Degrees
Those who use the metric system are accustomed to measuring temperature with the Celsius scale. Departing from the Fahrenheit system, with its arbitrary assignment of 32 degrees as the freezing point and […]
How did Pirates Keep the United States from Going Metric?
Of all the countries in the world, only the United States, Burma, and Liberia have not adopted the International System of Units, more commonly known as the metric system. It may seem […]
Major Metric Malfunction Means Missed Mars Mission and Millions of Moolah
Hopes were high when the Mars Climate Orbiter launched from Cape Canaveral on December 11, 1998. The robotic space probe was designed to study the climate, atmosphere, and surface changes of Mars […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 