Whatever Happened to the Metric System?
The feel-good place to buy books
Whatever Happened to the Metric System? by John Bemelmans Marciano
The system of measurement for most of the world is the metric system, and for a time in the 1970s the United States appeared ready to switch from American standard measurement. The reasons it never happened get to the root of who we think we are, just as American measurements are woven into the ways we think. John Marciano chronicles the origins of measurement systems, the kaleidoscopic array of standards throughout Europe and the thirteen American colonies, the combination of intellect and circumstance that resulted in the metric system's creation in France in the wake of the French Revolution, and America's stubborn adherence to the hybrid United States Customary System ever since. As much as Whatever Happened to the Metric System? is a tale of quarters and tenths, it is a human drama, replete with great inventors, visionary presidents, obsessive activists, and science-loving technocrats.
Anyone who reads this inquisitive, engaging story will never read Robert Frost's line "miles to go before I sleep" or eat a foot-long sub again without wondering, Whatever happened to the metric system?
John Bemelmans Marciano is the author and artist of a number of books, including the eponymous Anonyponymous and Toponymity, as well as the children's books Madeline at the White House (a New York Times bestseller), Madeline and the Cats of Rome, and Harold's Tail. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, daughter, and two cats, and is a word and math nerd.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781608194759 |
| ISBN 10 | 1608194752 |
| Title | Whatever Happened to the Metric System? |
| Author | John Marciano |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Usa |
| Year published | 2014-08-05 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |