How Pirates Thwarted America’s Plan to Go Metric (psnaudus.medium.com)

submitted 1 year ago by CaspianXI@lemmy.world to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world

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In the late 1700s, Thomas Jefferson wanted the United States to adopt a unified system of measurement and saw the metric system as the best solution. However, a pirate attack in the Caribbean disrupted these plans. Joseph Dombey, a French scientist carrying a kilogram and meter stick to demonstrate the metric system, was captured by pirates. By the time France sent another scientist to explain the system to the Americans, Jefferson was no longer in office, and plans to go metric were disregarded.

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[-] 001100010010@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

But if the plan had suceeded, it could've lead to a butterfly effect where none of us are ever born.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

But we wouldn't be aware of that fact, so it wouldn't be that big a deal.

[-] quixotic120@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Or it could’ve led to a butterfly effect where measurements were much easier to understand and as a result scientific and engineering progress moved along a bit faster

Maybe both; maybe that resulted in like a huge bomb that destroyed the world. Or maybe it resulted in utopia where we figure out eternal life and cured all disease

this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023

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