Talk:Metrication in the United States

ordinary inhabitants of the U.S.

There are a fair number of ordinary inhabitants of the U.S. who are not scientifically-minded or cosmopolitan (i.e. don't often travel outside the U.S.), and who have a vague impression that the metric system was a 1970s fad that went out with white polyester leisure suits and disco music... AnonMoos (talk) 14:10, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

Is there a reliable source attesting to any statement in that sentence, or a firm definition of "fair number", "Ordinary inhabitants", "not scientifically minded" or other terms therein? Otherwise the sentence is WP:OR at best and from the looks of it, entirely your opinion - utterly useless to us in making an encyclopedia. loupgarous (talk) 20:27, 16 November 2017 (UTC)

I don't have a specific source (just common knowledge of being around since the 1970s), but many humorous references to U.S. metrication are implicitly based on the popular perception that it was a Carter-administration 1970s fad (see the reference to "the era of mint green leisure suits and platform shoes" at http://themetricmaven.com/?p=373 )... AnonMoos (talk) 12:10, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

As an American, I can state that the metric system is not unknown here, and not dismissed as a fad. It gets some use, especially in technical/scientific/medical contexts, but Standard/Imperial predominates (as it should). For example, a car dashboard primarily shows mph/miles per hour, but there's a secondary smaller indicator for km/h. Xcalibur (talk) 01:23, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

Knots in aviation

The article states that knots are used in aviation because of US influence. This is absolute tripe. Knots are used because of a direct relationship between the nautical mile and a minute of arc of latitude measured along any meridian. In other words it is a direct product of geometry. - Nick Thorne ^talk 09:36, 5 February 2018 (UTC)

That was the original notion of nautical miles, but it only works at one latitude because the earth is not spherical. At any rate, nautical miles are now defined in terms of SI measurements. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dkazdan (talk • contribs) 15:10, 22 April 2018 (UTC)

The original statement bears some trueness to it. km/h is now recommended over knots by the International Civil Aviation Organization, and is already used for commercial aircraft in China, and possibly also Sweden and other countries. km/h is standard for airspeed measurement in European glider planes. German airplanes from WW2 and before used km/h.Sauer202 (talk) 21:54, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

The simple relationship between the nautical mile and a minute of latitude only holds if the aircraft is on land, but NASA uses nautical miles for the space shuttle. If that's not US influence, what is? Dondervogel 2 (talk) 23:27, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

Decimal currency and fractions of dollars - not metrication in my book

Just had a minor edit skirmish over some text I removed. It's in the Financial services sub-section, and referred to the USA's use of decimal currency, and fractions of dollars. The lead says "Metrication (or metrification) is the process of introducing the International System of Units". No mention of money, or fractions thereof. The text I removed was restored by User:ArnoldReinhold with an Edit summary comment of "...decimalization was a major part of metric movement". That contradicts the lead. Thoughts anyone? HiLo48 (talk) 23:42, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Definitely need a reliable published source to make such a claim. Obviously there are connections between decimal currency and metrification, both having begun around the same time, IIRC. There were other attempts at decimalizing measurements that preceded the metric system, especially by Thomas Jefferson. Perhaps one can claim that metrification was a major part of decimalization in general, but not the reverse. - BilCat (talk) 01:03, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

What claim do you think needs a reliable source? That the U.S. currency was decimalized early or that decimalization was a major feature of and reason for the original metric system? The fact that the U.S. was an early adopter of decimalization but non-the-less did not adopt the new system of units, it seems to me, is of some historical interest and belongs in this article.--agr (talk) 14:41, 23 August 2018 (UTC)

Maybe, but in that case such content belongs in the History section, not under Current use, which is the issue here.

HiLo48, that works for me. If you look at Metrication in the United Kingdom, they also discus decimilization of currency under history.--agr (talk) 14:58, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

This needs to be added, about how the Imperial System of Measurement is cuter

"The British system of measurement (also called, U.S. customary units) are move lovely and cute in their length measurements, compared to the metric system, partly because the measurements are mostly based on the human body, like the foot." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:647:4000:12E0:9DCD:7FEA:6916:BF16 (talk) 02:05, 9 September 2023 (UTC)

Two things - Firstly, the British system of measurement and U.S. customary units are not the same thing. Several units, such as the gallon, vary significantly between the two. Secondly, Wikipedia content needs to be based on and sourced to reliable sources, not what you personally think is cute. HiLo48 (talk) 02:11, 9 September 2023 (UTC)

Concur. BilCat (talk) 02:14, 9 September 2023 (UTC)

British don't use gallon, because they've already adopted metric system? Also, the earlier Imperial System that was used in Great Britain might be the same as the US gallon used today, depending on your source, because the definition of gallon wasn't exactly standardized or widely adapted by everyone 150 years ago. 2601:647:4000:12E0:6D11:F5D:15C8:8495 (talk) 15:17, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Your certainty on these matters is misplaced. While the UK has officially adopted the metric system, in practice many people still use gallons and other imperial units. Pubs definitely serve pints. HiLo48 (talk) 00:25, 11 September 2023 (UTC)

Minor reference to NASA's lunar program needs an update

"In early 2007, NASA announced that it would use metric units for all operations on the lunar surface upon its return to the Moon, then projected for 2020. NASA's lunar return program was then canceled in 2010."

Though NASA's Constellation lunar program has ceased to be, the agency has a new one called the Artemis program. Not sure how to add citations and that sort of thing but either Artemis needs to be mentioned or it needs to be specified that the Constellation program was meant. 2601:280:C781:BC90:8814:EE73:AAD3:D9F0 (talk) 08:37, 10 February 2024 (UTC)