Technikatörténeti szemle 10. (1978)

A MÉRÉS ÉS A MÉRTÉKEK AZ EMBER MŰVELŐDÉSÉBEN című konferencián Budapesten, 1976. április 27–30-án elhangzott előadások II. - Zupkor, R. E.: A méterrendszer az Egyesült Államokban

integrated, purposeful, simple, but precise, system of measurement was in the forefront of important national issues. Several weeks following the President's address, a select committee of Congress was appointed to handle the problem. Especially important in the ensuing deliberations was the inspiration, work, and direction supplied by Thomas Jefferson, who, amazingly, is little known for his considerable pioneering achievements on behalf of metrological decimalization. Being one of the dominant personalities of the early American intellectual scene, and a valuable friend, confidant, and ally of many Enlightenment savants of both England and France, Jefferson saw two ways of attacking the problem.

2 First, he believed that it would be possible to achieve a degree of metrological uniformity simply by reforming the existing system of measurement inherited from Britain. This plan entailed the following specific recommendations: (1) the elimination of all superfluous and outdated national units and the total eradication of local units employed in contravention of government directives; (2) the manufacture and dissemination of a new set of national standards which would be used to size and authenticate weights and measures employed in all economic and social sectors; (3) the simplification and realignment of all multiples and submultiples of measurement to eliminate the present confusing and overly complex system which randomly, and somewhat irrationally, contained binary, sexagesimal, duodecimal, and other divisions;

3 and (4) the complete restructuring of permissible measurement units based upon some invariable natural standard, such as one predicated on earth measurements or on a pendulum beating seconds at an agreed-upon altitude.

4 If all of these criteria could be researched properly, organized competently, and enacted nationally into law, the United States woidd achieve at least a partial solution to her metrological problems.

5 Jefferson's second proposal, however, was far more revolutionary for it advocated the elimination of the entire English pre-Imperial system and the adoption of a decimal system analagous to the one which the revolutionary government of France began to work on in earnest following the storming of the Bastille in July of 1789. Although space does not permit a detailed examination of the French metrological experiences during the last decade of the eighteenth century, suffice it to say that interest in decimalization increased remarkably following the successful experiments by many European scientists on terrestrial and pendulum measurements that mounted steadily after 1750.

6 By the end of the eighteenth century the French scientists had a series of intricate proposals ready which were introduced to the National Assembly in 1790. Jefferson—a highly competent scientist—knew of these achievements and his second proposal—although sketchy on the specifics of the new system largely because the French had not as yet worked out all of the flaws and would not do so for several years—simply recommended that the United States should follow the lead of France and adopt a decimal metrological system which, in time, because of its inherent superiority, would have possibilities for world-wide adoption.

7 Unfortunately for the future of both of these plans Congress did not respond. It established a long-lasting trend for nothing was done on the weights and measures question during the administrations of the first five American Presidents even though Congress had been officially challenged to act on the weights and measures dilemma