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The Metric System Is Here to Stay: Difference between revisions

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While futuristic science fiction embraces this trope, futuristic ''fantasy'' often averts it: imperial measurements seem more appropriate for a non-scientific milieu.
 
The metric system is at least for scientific applications superior to the imperial system - water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees Celsius<ref>approximately, given typical atmospheric pressure and chemical composition</ref>, and 1 Calorie is the energy required to increase the temperature of 1 liter (which is also 1 kilogram) of water by 1 degree Celsius. Thus, it's not surprising that the United States actually ''does'' use the metric system already, in military and scientific endeavors, as well as on pharmaceuticals and nutritional information. (For example, soft drinks commonly come in 2- or 3-liter bottles.) In fact, the United States' measurements (not imperial - that would be British, and there ''are'' differences, e.g. 1 imperial gallon equals 1.20095 U.S. liquid gallons) are defined in metric units in relevant legislation. Further details can be found on [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system_in_the_United_States:Metric system in the United States|That Other Wiki]].
 
Just to note, the United States is one of only three countries, along with Burma (Myanmar) and Liberia, that have not adopted the SI (metric) as their official system. So it is generally considered only a matter of time.
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== Film ==
* Used as a joke in ''[[Zenon|Zenon: Girl Of The Twenty First Century]]''. Zenon is from a space station, but when she arrives on Earth, she explodes a test tube because she was thinking in Celsius when all the instructions were in Fahrenheit. [[Critical Research Failure|In a]] ''[[Critical Research Failure|science class]]''.
* ''[[Avatar (Film)|Avatar]]'', naturally. ("[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Klick |Klick]]" is military slang for kilometer, in case you were wondering.)
** Also normal person slang in Canada.
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' (though "inch" does appear occasionally in the [[Expanded Universe]]).
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* ''[[Star Trek the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' and its movies were known for using both the metric and imperial systems, sometimes in the same sentence, in a faintly baffling manner... [[Reality Is Unrealistic|much like the modern scientific community and US military]].
** The novelisation for ''[[Star Trek IV the Voyage Home (Film)|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 (TV)|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 (TV)|Terra Nova]]''. Justified in that there are people from several different countries in the settlement.
* The ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'' episode "War Stories" showcases Wash's [[Improbable Piloting Skills]], simultaneously averting this trope:
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* For some peculiar reason, British road signs still give distances in miles despite the fact that the metric system has been taught exclusively in schools since at least the early 1990s. Retailers exclusively use the metric system for ''all'' foodstuffs apart from beer and milk, which are defined in both systems.
** The usual cited reason for not changing is the sheer expense of changing pretty much ''every roadsign in the land that has a number on it''. Every distance sign and speed sign would need to be replaced, which would be a colossal undertaking. It's for the same reason that milk and beer can still be sold in pints; replacing all the pint bottles and glasses is not practical.
* During [[The Eighties]], a conclusive switch to the metric system was widely anticipated in the United States. [[It Was His Sled|Obviously, that didn't happen,]] but at the time the expectation was so prevalent that the newly-finished [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_19:Interstate 19|Interstate 19]] put up signs with distances in kilometers. The program ran from 1975 to 1982, and it's worth noting that its failure was not necessarily because Americans disliked the metric system. Public opinion tended to be split or just ambivalent, so the Reagan administration couldn't justify the cost of overseeing and marketing the metrication effort, educating manufacturers, and changing highway signs. Several of the aforementioned metric road signs still stand today, particularly near the Canadian and Mexican borders.
** The metric system did take hold in manufacturing, as companies wanted to build things that could be easily repaired overseas, hence [[Vanilla Ice]] singing about his "Five Oh"<ref> A Ford Mustang with a 5.0l V8</ref> and not his "three oh two."
** The expected switch to metric provided a lot of fodder for the ''[[Peanuts]]'' strip during this time, as seen [http://foodiesabroad.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/peanuts-metric.jpg here]. The 1973 TV special ''There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown'' has a [[Hilarious in Hindsight]] moment when Peppermint Patty says that, "We're going to have to learn the metric system, Franklin. By the time we grow up, the metric system will probably be official."
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[[Category:We Will Not Use an Index In The Future]]
[[Category:The Metric System Is Here To Stay]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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