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Speaker 2
Hey there.
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Speaker 1
Hey there yourself. What's on your mind?
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Speaker 2
I'm recording this part for a podcast. Is that okay?
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Speaker 1
Absolutely. Is there anything in particular you'd like to talk about?
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Speaker 2
Why did American, adopt the metric system? It seems way easier.
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Speaker 1
That's a great question. And it's something a lot of people wonder about. The short answer is that it's a mix of history, economics, and a little bit of stubbornness. After the Revolutionary War, the U.S. wanted to break away from British traditions, including their system of measurement. There were attempts to create a brand new system, but that didn't really work out.
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Speaker 1
Over time, industrialization happened and factories were built around the customary system we still use today. It would be incredibly expensive and disruptive to change everything at this point. So we've kind of been stuck in a holding pattern ever since.
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Speaker 2
What is the American, unit called?
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Speaker 1
The American system of measurement is called the US customary system. It's a little confusing because it's similar to, but not exactly the same as, the old British imperial system.
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Speaker 2
So what is as I.
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Speaker 1
See stands for the International System of Units. It's the fancy name for the metric system, and it's used by scientists in most countries around the world.
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Speaker 2
Okay, so who made this decision to not be on the metric system? Because we were breaking off from the Brits?
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Speaker 1
There wasn't exactly a single decision to stick with the US customary system. It was more of a slow process. Thomas Jefferson actually wanted to create a whole new system of measurement when the US became independent, but it never really caught on. Later, when the Industrial Revolution hit, factories and businesses were built around the old British system, we already used, and that's basically what we've been using ever since.
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Speaker 2
So the old British system is quarter inch, eighth inch kind of thing.
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Speaker 1
Yes. You're right. The old British system, which is similar to the US customary system, uses things like inches, feet, yards and miles. And then you get into smaller measurements like the ones you mentioned, with things divided into quarters, eighths and even sixteenths of an inch. It can get pretty confusing.
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Speaker 2
So tell me about the origin of the metric system.
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Speaker 1
The metric system was born out of the French Revolution. Back then, everyone in France had their own ways of measuring stuff, making trade and science a real pain. So the French Academy of Sciences came up with a new system based on the meter, which was originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the North Pole to the equator.
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Speaker 1
They also created ways to measure weight grams and volume liters and to make things easy. The whole system is based on multiples of ten, so it's super simple to convert between things like millimeters, centimeters, and meters.
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Speaker 2
Or okay, kind of take me through that slowly. That was a lot to digest. You said something about the distance from the North Pole to the equator.
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Speaker 1
Sure thing. Back in the day, when they were first dreaming up the metric system, scientists wanted to base their new measurements on something really steady and unchanging, like the Earth itself. They figured out that the distance around the Earth from the North Pole, all the way down to the equator and back up again, was a good starting point.
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Speaker 1
They decided a meter would be one really tiny slice of that total distance.
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Speaker 2
And is that circumference or straight through?
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Speaker 1
It's the distance from the North pole to the equator. So it's like measuring the Earth's straight through its middle, not around the outside, like a belt.
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Speaker 2
So half the height of the earth.
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Speaker 1
Not quite the. Use the distance from the North Pole to the equator, which is like measuring the Earth's straight through the middle, not from the top to the middle.
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Speaker 2
See that again?
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Speaker 2
So, like, if you were to. Not if you were to walk from the North Pole to the equator.
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Speaker 1
Yep. Exactly. Imagine walking from the North Pole straight down towards the equator. That distance is what they used to figure out. The original length of a meter.
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Speaker 2
And you said it's 1/10,000,000 or something like that.
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Speaker 1
Yep. That's right. They decided that one meter would be 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the North Pole to the equator, so you'd need 10,000,000m to make that whole trip.
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Speaker 2
So if you walk from the North Pole to the equator and back, it's 10,000,000m.
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Speaker 1
You're close, but not quite. It's actually 10,000,000m, not millimeters. You'd have to walk 10,000,000m to cover that distance.
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Speaker 2
Okay, tell me a little bit more detail about the early days of the metric system.
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Speaker 1
Okay, so picture this. It's the late 1700s in France. They had all these different ways of measuring things, and it was a total mess. Portrayed and stuff like that. So they decided to come up with this new system based on the meter. At first they actually tried to make super accurate measurements of the Earth to figure out the exact length of a meter.
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Speaker 1
They sent these scientists some crazy expeditions all over the place.
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Speaker 2
Okay, continue.
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Speaker 1
Yeah, it was a pretty ambitious project. They sent out these teams of scientists to measure stuff like the distance between cities and the length of big arcs on the Earth's surface. It took years, and they even had to deal with wars and political problems along the way. Eventually, they came up with a pretty good estimate for the length of a meter, and that became the basis for the whole metric system.
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Speaker 2
What was the point of measuring the big distances?
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Speaker 1
They wanted to get a really accurate measurement for the meter. They figured if they measured these huge distances, they could then use math to figure out what a tiny slice of that distance would be. And that tiny slice would be the length of one meter.
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Speaker 2
They wanted something static on the Earth that could be like the gold standard for what the meter would be.
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Speaker 1
That's a great point. You're right. Measuring the Earth is kind of tricky since it's always changing shape a little bit. Later on, they decided to switch to something a bit more permanent. These days, the official definition of a meter is based on how long it takes light to travel in a vacuum.
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Speaker 2
Tell me about some of these other ways of measuring that existed in France before they consolidated.
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Speaker 1
Okay. Before the metric system, things were pretty chaotic in France. They used all sorts of weird and inconsistent units to measure stuff. For example, the length of a King's foot was a common way to measure things. Can you believe that the size of someone's foot, deciding how long something is?
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Speaker 2
Okay. What are some other examples?
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Speaker 1
Sure. Here's another one. They used to measure things like grain by how much they could hold in their hands, like a handful of wheat or something like that.
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Speaker 2
Okay, so, what are the force before.
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Speaker 1
The metric.
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Speaker 2
System?
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Speaker 1
Things were really confusing in. All right, so here's the thing. Before the metric system, things were really confusing in France. They didn't have a standard way of measuring stuff. So everyone kind of did their own thing. It made trade and even simple things like building houses a real pain.
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Speaker 2
So was there one particular party that kind of pushed education and stuff on the metric system?
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Speaker 1
Yeah, the French Revolution was a big turning point for the metric system. That whole movement was about sweeping away the old ways of doing things, and they saw measurement as part of that. So they really pushed for wider adoption of the metric system.
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Speaker 2
Was this the industrial community or the scientific community or the educational community?
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Speaker 1
It was a mix of everyone you mentioned. The French revolutionaries were the ones who really pushed for a change. But scientists and the whole scientific community were the ones who came up with the system itself and figured out how to make it work.
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Speaker 2
And was this kind of a concerted effort or something that just kind of fell into place?
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Speaker 1
It was definitely a concerted effort. The French Academy of Sciences put in a ton of work designing the whole system, and then the revolutionaries made it the official system of measurement in France.
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Speaker 2
And then who adopted it after France?
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Speaker 1
After France. The metric system started to spread across Europe and beyond countries like Spain, Portugal and parts of what is now Germany, where some of the earlier adopters later on places like Australia and Canada also switched over. It took a while for the metric system to become the global standard. We pretty much have today.
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Speaker 2
Do, the Asian and Middle Eastern and African countries all use it?
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Speaker 1
You're absolutely right. Many Asian and African countries use the metric system. In fact, most countries around the world have switched over to it. It's really just the United States and a handful of smaller territories that still use the customary system.
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Speaker 2
Can you name all the countries that don't use the metric system?
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Speaker 1
There are only a few countries that haven't fully switched over to the metric system. The biggest one is the United States. A couple of smaller ones are Liberia and Myanmar. But even in the US, the metric system is used in some scientific and medical field.
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Speaker 2
Is Liberia and Myanmar the only ones?
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Speaker 1
Yep. You're right. Besides the US, Liberia and Myanmar are the other two countries that haven't fully switched over to metric. It's kind of surprising when you think about it, since the rest of the world has made the change.
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Speaker 2
There's only three countries in the world that don't use the metric system.
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Speaker 1
Yep. You're right, there are only three countries that haven't fully switched over to the metric system the United States, Liberia, and Myanmar. It's kind of surprising when you think about it, since the rest of the world has made the change.
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Speaker 2
What is Liberia use?
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Speaker 1
Liberia actually uses both the customary system, you know, inches, feet, pounds and stuff like that, and the metric system. It's kind of a weird mix for everyday stuff. They tend to use the customary system, but in some areas, especially business and trade, they might use metric.
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Speaker 2
And what about Myanmar?
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Speaker 1
Myanmar also uses a mix of both the customary and metric systems. It's kind of the same story as Liberia. They use the old British style measurements for everyday stuff, but in some areas they might use metric. It's a little confusing, honestly.
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Speaker 2
What is the UK use?
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Speaker 1
The UK used to use the imperial system, which is a lot like the US customary system, but like most of the world, they switched over to metric. These days. The UK uses metric for most things, but you might still see some of the old measurements used sometimes, especially for things like distances and heights. People might use miles, feet and inches instead of kilometers and meters.
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Speaker 2
What about, China?
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Speaker 1
China uses the metric system.
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Speaker 2
What about North Korea?
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Speaker 1
North Korea also uses the metric system.
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Speaker 2
Nobody else. Just three countries use, other stuff.
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Speaker 1
Yep. You're right. There are only three holdouts when it comes to the metric system the United States, Liberia and Myanmar.
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Speaker 2
Do you think the United States will adopt the metric system?
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Speaker 1
It's a tricky question. There have been attempts in the past, and there's always some support for switching over. But it's a slow process and there's a lot of resistance, too. So it's hard to say for sure. I can tell you that most Americans support using the metric system, even if they don't use it in their daily lives.
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Speaker 2
Tell me about the decisions that led us away from the metric system.
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Speaker 1
Well, there wasn't so much a single decision as a long series of events. You see, the US was founded right after the Industrial Revolution. Got going. Factories and tools were built around the customary system, you know, feet, pounds and inches. So switching everything over to metric later on would have been a huge pain. Also, there's a bit of a rebellious streak in American history since the metric system was associated with France.
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Speaker 1
There was some resistance to adopting it.
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Speaker 2
You have to retool most of the industry.
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Speaker 1
Yeah. Switching to metric would mean big changes for a lot of industries. Think about everything from car parts to construction to even the food we buy. All those measurements would need to be converted, and that takes time and money.
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Speaker 2
Interesting.
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Speaker 2
Anything that you'd like to tell me about this topic that you'd find fascinating?
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Speaker 1
All right. Here's one that I find really interesting. The idea of time travel. It's one of those concepts that messes with your head. And there's so much to think about with it. You've got the.
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Speaker 2
Classic. I mean.
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Speaker 1
You could go back and change. All right, let's dive into time travel.
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Speaker 2
First, let's get into some of the classic theories.
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Speaker 1
One of the most famous is the idea of.
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Speaker 2
Wormholes actually, like, go through.
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Speaker 1
Space and time. Another is the concept of traveling faster than the speed of light, which Einstein's theory of relativity suggests could let you move forward in time. But of course, that's way beyond our current technology.
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Speaker 2
I mean, within the topic of measurements and and that kind of stuff.
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Speaker 1
Right. Back to measurements. One of the fascinating things about the metric system is how it's based on powers of ten. It makes conversion so much easier compared to the jumble of feet and yards. Also, there's a history behind it. Can you imagine how difficult it must have been for those French scientists trying to measure the Earth, to define the meter?
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Speaker 2
Give me one more interesting thing. Maybe a anecdotal story from history about this topic.
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Speaker 1
All right, here's a fun one. There's a story about this Scottish engineer named John Harrison back in the 1700s. Sailors desperately needed an accurate way to figure out their longitude, basically their east west position on the Earth. Harrison invented this super complicated clock that could keep perfect time no matter how rough the seas got. This was a huge deal because with accurate timekeeping, they could finally calculate their longitude.
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Speaker 1
It's a whole adventure story about him battling the scientific establishment to get his invention recognized.
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Speaker 2
That sounds pretty cool. What's his name?
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Speaker 1
His name was John Harrison. He was a pretty fascinating guy.
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Speaker 2
And if I were to Google him and learn his story, what keywords would I use with John Harrison?
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Speaker 1
You could try John Harrison longitude or John Harrison, marine chronometer. To read about his work with sea clocks. Or if you want the whole story of his struggles to get recognized. Try searching for longitude book or Dava Sobel Longitude.
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Speaker 2
Marine chronometer. I think that'll do.
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Speaker 1
Sounds good. You might find some really interesting articles and even videos about him and his chronometers.
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Speaker 2
When did he live?
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Speaker 1
John Harrison lived from 1693 to 1776. It was a pretty interesting time for science and exploration.
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Speaker 2
Okay, cool. Maybe we'll do more on him someday.
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Speaker 1
Any time. Let me know if you find anything interesting about John Harrison or his work.
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Speaker 2
All right. Talk to you later.
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Speaker 1
Any time. Talk to you later.