Are we metric? Yes.

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From: Ben Pittenger (benpittenger@earthlink.net)
Date: Fri May 03 2002 - 08:10:29 PDT 

Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 08:10:29 -0700
From: Ben Pittenger<benpittenger@earthlink.net>
Subject: Are we metric? Yes.
Message-ID: <Springmail.0994.1020438629.0.41697000@webmail.pas.earthlink.net>

It might help to let your students know that the legal basis of our current system of measure IS the metric system. Our feet, yards, pounds, etc. have been defined by the metric system for over a century.

Due to variability of the english units, and the difficulty we were having in maintaining uniformity with England's system, in 1893, the US Superintendent of Weights and Measures (a fellow named T.C. Mendenhall) issued what is now known as The Mendenhall Order. The order was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. This decree adopted the International Prototypes of the Metre and Kilogram as our fundamental standards of length and mass.

So even though our students and communities want to cling to the foot and pound, they are, nonetheless using units that are now defined by the metric system!

A search under "mendenhall order" will get you various sites that tell the story. One that addresses the "Mendenhall Era" directly is:

http://www.weights.az.gov/MoreAboutUs/History/HistoryT.htm

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