Let's Get Metric

<p><br></p><p>Feet, inches, palms, cubits, rods… all were SWEPT ASIDE on 28th September, 1889, when the first General Conference of the Weights and Measures Commission met in Sèvres, France to refine a definition for the NEW universal measurement of distance: the metre.</p><br><p>The calculation was painstakingly made by measuring a quarter of the meridian of the Earth - running from the North Pole to the Equator - and then dividing it into 10 million parts. Metal bars measuring exactly one metre were then distributed to attendees of the Conference. </p><br><p>In this episode Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether this scientific method of calculating distance was *really* any better than barleycorns and man-size hugs; ask why the USA still hasn’t got on-board with the metric system; and explain why Napoleon might not have been as short as we think he was… </p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Galileo, Krypton, and How the Metric Standard Came to Be’ (WIRED, 2018): <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-the-perfectionists-history-meter/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-the-perfectionists-history-meter/</a></p><p>• ‘How France created the metric system’ (BBC Travel, 2018): <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180923-how-france-created-the-metric-system" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180923-how-france-created-the-metric-system</a></p><p>• ‘Who Invented the Meter?’ (It’s Okay To Be Smart, 2017):</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3eHHwcMVcA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3eHHwcMVcA</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.</em></p><br><p><em>#1800s #Inventions #Science #Technology #France</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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