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A history of the metric system of weights and measures : with emphasis on campaigns for its adoption in Great Britain and in the United States prior to 1914 /
Abstract
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 1956. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 669-723). Photocopy.
The first part of this article defines theoretically the importance of measurement for economic life. Systems of measurement are defined here as cognitive instruments that allow quantitative calculations and estimations of value. Establishing a standardized system of measurement is crucial for economic life because it reduces transaction costs and asymmetric information, and helps to rationalize economic proc-esses. In contemporary capitalist societies, those functions have been greatly fulfilled by scientific systems, like the decimal metric system. The second part of the article underscores, through an empirical case, the complex and contentious nature of actu-ally setting a system of weights and measures aimed to facilitate commercial transactions in international markets. The case in question is centered on the disputes in theUnited States and Latin America, from 1890 to 1930, to define a Pan-America system of measurement.
A nation’s measuring rod is the most succinct and precise statement of the dominating forces within a civilised society. Consequently, measure is representative of culture and is an essential aspect of the history of ideas. Yet, neither scientists nor historians have considered measure as an art. More usually it is presented one-sidedly, as a catalogue of related numbers and quantities, which have quasi-scientific status. Commemorative medal of the metric system, designed in 1799 but not cast until 1840. Pavillon de Breteuil, Sèvres, Paris The idea and reality of what measure represents has been transformed. Measures in western society were once mostly derived from the notion of the ideal male body, its qualities and proportions as well as its dimensions. These were represented in classical sculptures and buildings, artefact that have influenced art and architecture into modern times. However, during the European Enlightenment the body as measuring standard was criticised. Scientists and politicians became intent on providing a system of rational, universal measures independent of the human body, and the metre rod was formulated. It is the idea of measure - what it purports to be and what it actually represents - that is the focus of this paper. Measure, I will argue needs to be recognised as more than an abstract calibrated length of inert material: it is a deliberate consequence of human thought - in Latin, mens (the root of ’measure’) – and the dissembler – in Greek, eiron (the root of ‘irony’) - and simulator of power. The metric system has universal authority – except in the USA - but it is no more rational than the idealised body that once dominated the ancient world. Indeed, I will argue that it might be better understood as the measure of all irony.
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