[Sca-cooks] measurement

[Terry Decker]

> IIRC the US military has been metric for years, i.e NATO standard.  Be 
> that
> as it may in my scientific publications with the Florida Geological Survey 
> we show both "English" and Metric mearurements in the text and include the 
> conversion table used.   Interestingly those publications have been on 
> disk, either CD or DVD, rather than hard copy.
>
> Daniel

It has been lawful to use metric measures in all forms of commerce within 
the U.S. since 1866, when Congress adopted the standard, and the U.S. is one 
of the original signatories to the Convention of the Meter in 1875.

As part of an effort to standardize weaponry between allied nations, the U.S 
military began using the metric system beginning with the M-14 in 1957 (the 
International Geophysical Year).  You'll find many of the dual use 
conventions date to the IGY, although the Florida Geological Survey may have 
adopted the standard from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the original 
agency to adopt the metric system in 1866.  Metrication of the U.S. has 
occurred primarily in education, scientific research, military and 
manufacturing; those fields in the U.S. which are the most global in scope.

The essential problem in going completely metric is the Constitution 
reserves the right to establish standard weights and measures to the 
Congress, but the enforcement of those standards is done at the State level. 
The Congress passed legislation to take the U.S. metric, but the measure 
called for voluntary compliance and had no set deadlines (avoiding the issue 
of funding the mandate).  The effort died on the vine and was buried by 
Reagan.  Without an Act of Congress, mandating a change to the metric system 
with specific dates for the change and penalties for non-compliance, we 
aren't going totally metric any time soon.

Bear