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The Metric System Is Here to Stay: Difference between revisions
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* ''[[Honor Harrington|Honorverse]]'' is thoroughly metric (even the [[Deep South]] of Grayson), to the point that Honor, while reading ''[[Oliver Twist]]'' in her spare time, wondered what those "inches" and "pounds" mean and how much would it be. [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] when the Grayson pasttime of baseball is introduced in the books. Despite using metric for everything else, the Graysons stubbornly insist on using American measurements for baseball, because if they attempted to use metric, they'd either end up with crufty measurements (keeping the field the right dimensions) or end up with a field that was slightly off in distances. They refuse to update the game to include modern measurements because baseball is [[Serious Business]].
** But averted in Weber's [[Safehold]] Series. The people of Safehold use imperial units, which were deliberately imposed (along with roman numerals and certain religious proscriptions) early in the colonization project in order to hinder technological progress.
* [[David Drake]]'s ''[[RCN Series]]'' has Cinnabar use the imperial system while their enemies the Alliance (''not'' [[The Alliance]]) use metric—but [[Word of God|Drake]] says that's just [[Translation Convention]] because he believes that after more than a thousand years, humanity will have scrapped both systems in favor of something else.
* As seen in the page quote, in British speculative fiction using the metric system in the future is usually a hint of dystopia. Oddly this is a much more common use than in American fiction, perhaps because the metric system has never been (in parts) imposed by government in America.
* Thoroughly averted by [[Larry Niven]]. His [[Ringworld]] (for example) is "six hundred million miles" in circumference.
* ''[[Uglies]]'' uses this, to the extent that another system of measurement isn't even mentioned.
* [[Warhammer
* [[David Foster Wallace]] had a personal liking for metric (it seems), so in many of his works (including ''[[Infinite Jest]]''), metric units prevail if he can help it.
* There's a curious semi-inversion in the short-lived series of English translations of the ''[[Perry Rhodan]]'' novels. Because the originals are in German distances are given in metric, but translator Wendayne Ackerman consistently renders meters into yards - not even bothering to multiply by three to get feet.
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== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' caused a scientific error due to this trope. During the production of the ''[[Star Trek: The
* ''[[Star Trek: The
** The novelisation for ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home|Star Trek IV the Voyage Home]]'' featured Scotty having to mentally translate from metric to US customary when talking to the factory owner.
* On ''[[Babylon 5]]'', the eponymous station is consistently described as "five miles long". This is, however, the only measurement on the show that does not use the metric system.
* ''[[Terra Nova]]''. Justified in that there are people from several different countries in the settlement.
* The ''[[Firefly]]'' episode "War Stories" showcases Wash's [[Improbable Piloting Skills]], simultaneously averting this trope:
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** Apparently so much of the player base is American that they can't afford to switch to metric because, like many small RPG makers, SJGames is a margin business. (The Basic Set book does have a metric conversion table near the front.)
** Also averted in ''[[Car Wars]]''. Miles, feet, and pounds abound in Autoduel America.
* Older versions of ''[[
* ''[[Shadowrun]]'' and ''[[Cyber Punk 2020]]'' both used metres for ranges and kilogrammes for encumberance purposes.
* The 3rd edition rules for ''[[Star Wars]] d20'' used metres, when literally all other games based on the d20 system were based on the imperial system.
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:We Will Not Use an Index In The Future]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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