1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. This is one of 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: those episodes born of personal curiosity in that way that 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: things will happen in your world and eventually your brain 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: will go, huh, yeah, I did that. Why is that 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: a thing? And one of those things we don't really 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: answer in this episode, but we'll talk about it in 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: the behind the scenes because it's a Bob's Burgers thing 10 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: where they're talking about the metric system sort of in 11 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:46,599 Speaker 1: Tina mentions that Britain still uses miles and she goes, yeah, 12 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 1: we learned about it in school, and I was like, oh, yeah, 13 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: why is that? And then something else happened with a 14 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: friend of mine when we were traveling and we were 15 00:00:54,520 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: talking about the transition from imperial to me when we 16 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: were in in London, and so I was like, oh, yeah, 17 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,559 Speaker 1: I should investigate how that'll happen and why some people 18 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: have some things and some don't. So we have a 19 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: little bit of that, but really what started to become 20 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: interesting to me as we as I started researching it 21 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: is that there there were a lot of people trying 22 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: to figure out how to get everybody on the same 23 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: page kind of literally in terms of how to measure things. 24 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: But there are two guys in particular that are like, 25 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,479 Speaker 1: I have a plan, and so we're going to talk 26 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 1: about them. There were these two men. They worked separately 27 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: but simultaneously on the issue of standardized measurement. They're each sited, 28 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: depending on where you look, as the originator of the 29 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: idea of the metric system. This also leads to some 30 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: occasional rivalry of what country is the birth of the 31 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: metric system in One of these men we have actually 32 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: talked about at length on the show before, and that's 33 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: John Wilkins, because in twenty nineteen we did an episode 34 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: on his books about the moon and his ideas about 35 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: possibly traveling to it. Yeah, we're going to put that 36 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: on as a Saturday Classic, not immediately but soon. Yeah, 37 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: and today we're going to have a little bit of 38 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: overlap with that episode because we just want to be 39 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: able to explain without anybody having to listen to the 40 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: other episode. How Wilkins got to a point where he 41 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: had the interest, the time, the resources, and the credibility 42 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: to propose a complete overhaul of the way England was 43 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: handling units of measure. That's something we didn't talk about 44 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: at all in the twenty nineteen episode because we were 45 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: focused on his moonwork, which we'll mention briefly here just 46 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: because of timeline. But then we're also going to talk 47 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: about his French contemporary who proposed a similar system, and 48 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: then how it took so very long for any country 49 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: to adopt what became the metric system. Uh. And then 50 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: we will talk about the fact that even though both 51 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: of these men wrote about theoretical ways a universal system 52 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: of measure could be developed, no one did the work 53 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: to make that happen. As we said, it took so 54 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: very long, for more than one hundred years. So John 55 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: Wilkins was born on February fourteenth, sixteen fourteen, in the 56 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: County of Northamptonshire, England. His father, Walter, was a goldsmith 57 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,679 Speaker 1: and his mother was Jane Dodd Wilkins. Walter Wilkins died 58 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: when John was a child, and Jane remarried. Her second 59 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: husband was Francis Pope. In this second marriage, Jane had 60 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: another son, Walter Pope, who became a writer and an astronomer. 61 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: Because John's father, Walter, had died. John's grandfather was the 62 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: family member who kind of managed his education, and after 63 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: some preliminary lessons at home, he went to a private 64 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: school in Oxford, although John is said to have not 65 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: found this especially stimulating. He moved on to the New 66 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: Inn Hall for kind of the equivalent of what would 67 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: be high school in our perception when he was thirteen, 68 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: and then to Maudlin Hall to earn his bachelor's degree 69 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: in sixteen thirty one, and he stayed there to gain 70 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: his master's degree. He got that three years later in 71 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: sixteen thirty four. He worked first as a tutor at 72 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: Oxford and then as a minister. He had a parish 73 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: in Fowsley, Northamptonshire, but realized being a vicar in a 74 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: parish was not the right fit for him. He thought 75 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: he would do better as a chaplain in a private setting, 76 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: working for the nobility, where he would have time to 77 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:30,479 Speaker 1: also work on the various philosophical and scientific projects that 78 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: he was interested in. He went through a series of 79 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: these positions while writing his first book Yeah. He realized, like, 80 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: if I'm a vicar in a community parish, I will 81 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: also have to do things with the community that take 82 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: up all my days. I'd like some reading time, please. 83 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: So that's how that worked. I have to say that 84 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: sounds like a good gig. There might be a reason 85 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: that we have just figured out that a lot of 86 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: religious figures are the ones that were advancing science during 87 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: this period of time. That book that he worked on 88 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: was published anonymously in sixteen thirty eight. This is one 89 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: we've talked about before. It was a scientific work that 90 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: laid out the case that the Moon could be inhabited 91 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: and could potentially be inhabited by humans if we got there. 92 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,799 Speaker 1: He wrote a second edition examining the possibility that people 93 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,559 Speaker 1: could fly to the Moon, and then his next work, 94 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: which was published in sixteen forty, examined the likelihood that 95 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: Earth was indeed a planet. If that sounds weird, remember 96 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: the Moon had only been seen through a telescope a 97 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: little more than twenty five years before this, so scientists 98 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: were still in the early phases of working out how 99 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,600 Speaker 1: the solar system was arranged and how celestial motion might work. 100 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: They had some broad strokes, but details were still a 101 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: little elusive, and so while the idea of Earth as 102 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: a planet had been in the mix, for almost one 103 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: hundred years. At the point of Wilkins writing about Earth, 104 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: a heliocentric solar system was not a universally accepted truth. 105 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: One of Wilkins's important contributions to the world of science 106 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: was as a founding member of the Royal Society. His 107 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: work as a private chaplain had taken him to London, 108 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: and while he was there he often met with other 109 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: scientific and philosophical thinkers of the day in weekly gatherings. 110 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: This group was described in the writings of John Wallace 111 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: as quote diverse worthy persons inquisitive into natural philosophy and 112 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 1: other parts of human learning, and particularly of what hath 113 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: been called the new philosophy or experimental philosophy. This group 114 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: is one of the precursors to the Royal Society, as 115 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: is a similar group that Wilkins gathered in Oxford after 116 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: his next move, because in sixteen forty eight he became 117 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: warden of Oxford's Wadham College. This is tied closely to 118 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: his political standing, as he had sided with the Oliver 119 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: Cromwell led Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and the 120 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: parliamentarians had secured a victory in the second phase of 121 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: that conflict. In sixteen forty eight. Wilkins was instrumental in 122 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: growing Wanham, which gave him a great deal of notoriety, 123 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: and he simultaneously grew his political standing, and Cromwell named 124 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: him as a chancellor in sixteen fifty two. Wilkins also 125 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: married Cromwell's sister, Rabina French in sixteen fifty six. She 126 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: had previously been married to Peter French before she was widowed. 127 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: Though his parliamentarian leanings were well known, Wilkins ran Wadham 128 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: with an ideology of tolerance and fairly progressive values for 129 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: the time, something incidentally that Wadham continues to be known 130 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: for today. Because of this, even families with Royalist loyalties 131 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: enrolled their sons there, and a lot of those families 132 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: were or became close friends with Wilkins. Many of his 133 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: students went on to great acclaim, including Christopher Wrenn. When 134 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: Wilkins began having his own gatherings of intellectuals there, his 135 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: group had a lot of crossover, both in attendance and 136 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: in correspondence with the London group that we mentioned a 137 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: moment ago. In September sixteen fifty nine, Wilkins left Wadham 138 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: after Parliament appointed him the mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge, 139 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: but when the monarchy was restored with the return of 140 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: King Charles the Second in the spring of sixteen sixty, 141 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: Wilkins lost that mastership, although he did have a lot 142 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: of supporters, both parliamentarian and royalists, who made the case 143 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: that he really should remain in the position. His good 144 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: name among members of the court soon led to new 145 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: appointments and a rise to success during Charles the Second's reign, 146 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: although he was not reinstated at Trinity. But it's during 147 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: these years of turbulence that he worked on more formally 148 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: establishing the gatherings of thinkers that he had been part 149 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: of in London and Oxford into a more formalized society. 150 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: In sixteen sixty he was appointed chairman by his peers 151 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: of the new group, referred to as a quote College 152 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: for the promotion of physico mathematical experimental learning. The King 153 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 1: not only approved the society's founding, he also wanted to 154 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: be a member, and in July sixty sixty two, the 155 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,079 Speaker 1: Royal Society was officially incorporated. Wilkins served as the first 156 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: secretary of the newly founded society throughout the sixteen sixties. 157 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,959 Speaker 1: Wilkins was busy moving in the scientific circles of England, 158 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: and it sounds like having a lot of fun doing it. 159 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 1: John Evelyn wrote of him in his diary pretty often. 160 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: One entry from July of sixteen fifty four offers a 161 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: pretty good sketch of where Wilkins was and his life. 162 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: Quote thirteenth July sixteen fifty four. We all dined at 163 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: that most obliging and universally curious doctor Wilkins's at Wadham College. 164 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: He was the first who showed me the transparent apiaries 165 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: which he had built like castles and palaces, and so 166 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: ordered them one upon another as to take the honey 167 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: without destroying the bees. These were adorned with a variety 168 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: of dials, little statues, veins, et cetera. And he was 169 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: so abundantly civil, finding me pleased with them, to present 170 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: me with one of the hives which he had empty, 171 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: which I afterward had in my garden at Says Court, 172 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: where it continued many years, and which his Majesty came 173 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: on purpose to see and contemplate with much satisfaction. He 174 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: had also contrived a hollow statue which gave a voice 175 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 1: and uttered words by a long concealed pipe that went 176 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,439 Speaker 1: into its mouth while one speaks through it at a 177 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: good distance. He had above in his lodgings and gallery 178 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: a variety of shadows, dials, perspectives, and many other artificial, 179 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: mathematical and magical curiosities. A way wiser, a thermometer, a 180 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: monstrous magnet, conic, and other sections, a balance on a 181 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: demi circle, most of them his own. Evelyn's accounts also 182 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: showed that Wilkins was still working as a minister quote 183 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,319 Speaker 1: tenth February sixteen fifty six. I heard doctor Wilkins preach 184 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: before the Lord Mayor in Saint Paul's showing how obedience 185 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: was preferable to sacrifice. He was a most obliging person 186 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: who had married the Protector's sister, and took great pains 187 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: to preserve the universities from the ignorant, sacrilegious commanders and 188 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: soldiers who would fain have demolished all places and persons 189 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: that pretended to learning. Samuel Peeps also mentioned Wilkins with 190 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: some frequency, but doesn't appear to have been wowed by 191 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 1: him as a preacher. In February sixteen sixty four, he 192 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: wrote quote twelfth Lord's Day up and to church to 193 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: Saint Lawrence to hear doctor Wilkins, the great scholar for 194 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: a curiosity, I having never heard him, but was not 195 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: satisfied with him at all. The two men did appear 196 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: to become friends despite this early disinterest on Peeps's part. Yeah, 197 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: you're kind of a letdown. Coming up, we're going to 198 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: talk about Wilkins's writing about how a standardized way to 199 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: measure things might be devised, But first you will take 200 00:11:52,320 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: a little sponsor break. During the sixteen sixties, Wilkins worked 201 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: on a proposal to overhaul the messy way that things 202 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: were measured and install a universal approach to it. He 203 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: included this in a writing in which he called for 204 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 1: the development of a universal language that people should use 205 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: in addition to their own native language to make science, 206 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: international relations, in global trade simpler. That work, titled an 207 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 1: Essay Towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language, included 208 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: a section on measures, in which he wrote, quote, the 209 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: several nations of the world do not more differ in 210 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: their languages than in the various kinds and proportions of 211 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,440 Speaker 1: these measures. And it is not without great difficulty that 212 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: the measures observed by all those nations who traffic together 213 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: are reduced to that which is commonly known and received 214 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: by any one of them, which labor would be much 215 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: abbreviated if they were all of them fixed to and 216 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:59,959 Speaker 1: one certain standard. Wilkins actually thought this new system should 217 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: be an octal numbering system that is based on eight. 218 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: We'll talk about this in the behind the scenes, but 219 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: it breaks my brain to think about it a little bit. 220 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: He also concedes, though, that nobody will likely adopt that system, 221 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,479 Speaker 1: and that the decimal approach is heavily favored. He discusses 222 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 1: that using a measuring system based on the division of 223 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: degrees on the Earth would be impractical and eventually settles 224 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:27,119 Speaker 1: on the pendulum as the best approach. He credits Christopher 225 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 1: Wren with coming up with the idea, and here's how 226 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: he described this quote. The most probable way for the 227 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: affecting of this is that which was first suggested by 228 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: doctor Christopher Wren, namely by vibration of a pendulum, time 229 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: itself being a natural measure depending upon a revolution of 230 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: the heaven or the earth, which is supposed to be 231 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: everywhere equal and uniform. If any way could be found 232 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 1: out to make longitude commensurate to time. This might be 233 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: the foundation of a natural standard. If you're thinking, I 234 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 1: know there are some flaws in that, we're getting to that. 235 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: Obviously there can be pendulums of differing links. Wilkins thought 236 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: that a pendulum with a half beat of one second 237 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 1: was the perfect unit to use, which he called a standard. 238 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: That half beat or half period is the time it 239 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: takes for the pendulum to swing from one extreme to 240 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 1: the other. And then he kind of describes how anyone 241 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: could set up their own ruler, essentially by hanging a 242 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: ball on the end of a string that has no 243 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: stretch and then carefully calibrating it so its natural swing 244 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: takes one second. He continues, quote, Let this length therefore 245 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: be called the standard. Let one tenth of it be 246 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 1: called a foot, one tenth of a foot, an inch, 247 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: one tenth of an inch a line, and so upward 248 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: ten standards should be a perch, ten perches, a furlong, 249 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 1: ten furlongs, a mile, ten miles, a league, etc. He 250 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: goes on to explain how the same approach could be 251 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: applied to volume. Quote, and so for measures of capacity, 252 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: the cubicle content of the standard may be called the bushel, 253 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: the tenth part of the bushel, the peck, the tenth 254 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: part of a peck a court, and the tenth of 255 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: that a pint, And so for as many other measures 256 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: upwards as shall be thought expedient for use. He also 257 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: included similar explanatory systems for weight and even money. But 258 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: Wilkins wasn't saying this was how things should be done. 259 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 1: He said, at the end of all of his proposed 260 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: ways to measure things, quote I mention these particulars not 261 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: out of any hope or expectation that the world will 262 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: ever make use of them, but only to show the 263 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: possibility of reducing all measures to one determined certainty. This 264 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: was the last book Wilkins published in his lifetime. There 265 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: were others, but they came out posthumously. The same year 266 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: that this book came out, he was made Bishop of Chester, 267 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 1: and he served in that role until his death four 268 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: years later in November of sixteen seventy two. In France, 269 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: another religious man with a serious interest in science also 270 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: worked on the idea of a universal approach to measurement 271 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: during the sixteen sixties. That was Gabrielle Muton. We don't 272 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: know as much about his early life as we do 273 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: about Wilkins. Mouton was born in Lyon, France, in sixteen eighteen. 274 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: He lived there his entire life. When he was four 275 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: years old, he joined the children's choir of Saint Paul's 276 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: Church in Leon, and you could also say he stayed 277 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: there his whole life. He remained deeply involved with Saint 278 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: Paul's and it ultimately became the place where he worked. 279 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: After receiving his degree in theology and taking holy orders, 280 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: he was given the title of Vaquier perpetuel at Saint Paul's, 281 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: literally the permanent Minister. He received his divinity degree in 282 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: the sixteen forties and worked as a spiritual and community 283 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: leader there for almost five decades. During his time as 284 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: a theology student, Gabriel had also developed a strong affinity 285 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: for mathematics and astronomy, and he studied those on his 286 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: own time, and then when his formal education ended, he 287 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: continued to work on his own projects in these areas 288 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: of interest, and it is through this work that he's 289 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: known today. In sixteen seventy, so, two years after Wilkins 290 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: wrote out his version of a possible unifying system of measurement, 291 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,480 Speaker 1: Mouton wrote up his idea to solve the problem. Although 292 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: Wilkins thought that using the measurement of the Earth as 293 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: a basis was problematic, Muton thought it was the right solution. 294 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:28,160 Speaker 1: He wrote a paper about it, which translates to observations 295 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: of the apparent diameter of the Sun and Moon, and 296 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: he shared the methods he had developed to calculate the 297 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,959 Speaker 1: size of a celestial body. His estimate of the Sun's 298 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 1: diameter was quite accurate, and he also put forth the 299 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: idea that a fraction of the Earth's meridian should be 300 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 1: used as the basis of a system of measurement. But 301 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: Mouton did not abandon the pendulum. He figured out that 302 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 1: a pendulum that had a half beat of one second 303 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,239 Speaker 1: at a given latitude would not work the same at 304 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: a different latitude. The length would have to be different. 305 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: That means you couldn't use that. That's because coriolis force, 306 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: which would not be named until the twentieth century after 307 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 1: French engineer gesbarg Corioli shifts the way a pendulum moves 308 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,880 Speaker 1: as the Earth rotates. In the northern hemisphere, a pendulum 309 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: moves slightly to the right each time it swings, and 310 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 1: in the southern hemisphere slightly to the left, shifting the 311 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:22,159 Speaker 1: length of the pendulum swing. The slight difference in the 312 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: Earth's radius as you move toward either pole also has 313 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:28,879 Speaker 1: an effect on gravitational acceleration. So while Wilkins had an 314 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: interesting idea with his pendulum measurement, everyone would also have 315 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: to agree on the pendulum measure being taken at one 316 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: consistent latitude, so that doesn't really make it a universal standard. 317 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: Mudon believed that measurements of pendulums at different latitudes could 318 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: be used to calculate the Earth's meridian, and then a 319 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: fraction of that number could form the basis of a 320 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,119 Speaker 1: unit of length that would be universal. This was a 321 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: degree one minute of longitude, which he proposed would be 322 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: called the meal. Then, like Wilkins, he gave a list 323 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: of names for the fractional divisions of that number centuria, decuria, virga, virgula, decima, sentissima, 324 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 1: and Milesimal units multiplied by the meal were the stadium, funiculus, virga, virgula, digitus, granum, 325 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: and punctum. So here's an interesting tidbit. We don't actually 326 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: know if Mouton knew about Wilkins's work or not. Wilkins 327 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 1: was not the first person to suggest a pendulum for 328 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: a unit of measure, although he was one of the 329 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,680 Speaker 1: first to really lay out how it might be used 330 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: as a basis for a comprehensive system. But the concept 331 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: had been kicking around Europe since Galileo first wrote about 332 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: pendulums in the fifteen eighties. In sixteen fifty six, more 333 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: than a decade before Wilkins wrote his measuring example out, 334 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: Dutch mathematician Christian Huygens had invented a pendulum clock. So 335 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 1: there was a lot of discussion of pendulums in the 336 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: scientific community, and it's certain that Muton read about them, 337 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: whether he specifically read will Dilkins's work or not. And 338 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: a lot of people were trying to think of a 339 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: way that measurement could be unified in one system around 340 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: the globe, because it was very difficult for people from 341 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: different places to communicate concepts when they couldn't even agree 342 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 1: on what the numbers they might use in a paper mint, 343 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 1: so to kind of zoom in a little. Even within 344 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: one country, there could be variations and there still are, 345 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: Like in Britain, a dry gallon means a measurement of 346 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: grain and that was larger than a liquid gallon. As 347 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: the US adopted the British system, we still technically have 348 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: a dry gallon and liquid gallon. It's different measurements. So 349 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: if you said you had a gallon of a thing 350 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 1: and it wasn't clear if that was dry or liquid goods, 351 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: those could mean very different things, so easy to get confused, 352 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: and it still is mootl outlived Wilkins by quite a bit. 353 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: He died on September twenty eight, sixteen ninety four. He's 354 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,680 Speaker 1: buried in the chapel at Saint Paul's, where he worshiped 355 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: and led the congregation throughout his entire life. But even 356 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: though a lot of the scientific community received his work 357 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: with a great deal of interest, he still did not 358 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: live long enough to see any of his ideas implemented. 359 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: In a moment, we'll talk about the many steps that 360 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: actually took for France to get a metric system set 361 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: up and how that went. First, though we will hear 362 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: from the sponsors that keep the show going. It actually 363 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 1: took a lot of time and refining amongst the European 364 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: scientific community to get Mutu's theoretical measuring ideas to a 365 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 1: place that was considered workable more than a century. On 366 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,199 Speaker 1: the one hand, there just weren't real world measurements that 367 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: verified his theoreticals, and even the tools needed to do 368 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: so took some time to figure out, and then there 369 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,239 Speaker 1: were just also the usual issues of international conflicts. This 370 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,479 Speaker 1: slowed things down. Ultimately, France was the first country to 371 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,120 Speaker 1: implement the metric system, but that transition was not instant. 372 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: By the seventeen nineties, France had a variety of problems 373 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 1: with its measurement of things, just like a lot of 374 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: other countries around Europe. It became such an issue that 375 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:22,160 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety one, after Statesman Charles Maurice to Telerom 376 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: began a debate about the issue, the National Assembly tasked 377 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,639 Speaker 1: the Academy of Sciences with figuring out something better. And 378 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: one of the ways they sought to ensure that the 379 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: basis of their system would not have problems of variability 380 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: based on things like location or custom was that it 381 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: had to be based on a measurement from nature that's 382 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,439 Speaker 1: a lot like what Wilkins and Mutton had written about. 383 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,679 Speaker 1: It was decided that one ten millionth of one quarter 384 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 1: of Earth's meridian, so through the polls would be the 385 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: basis of the entire system. A different way to describe 386 00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: a quarter of the meridian is to say the distance 387 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 1: from the equator to the north pole. Additionally, that calculated unit, 388 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 1: which was to be called a meter, would also be 389 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 1: used to determine a standard measure of weight using a 390 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: cubic meter of water. So a leader is one one 391 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: thousandth the weight of a cubic meter of water. Once 392 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 1: this whole plan had been made by the Academy of Sciences, 393 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: the Assembly signed off on it, and then it moved 394 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: to King Louis the sixteenth for approval, and after meeting 395 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 1: with a group of scientists and mathematicians, Louis gave the 396 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: measurement plan the royal seal of approval. This is actually 397 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: a strange part of Louis the sixteenth legacy. The day 398 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: after he had that meeting, he tried to leave France 399 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: as the growing tensions between the monarchy and its people 400 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: threatened his and his family's safety. He didn't make it 401 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: out of the country, of course, he was imprisoned, but 402 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 1: he still gave a directive from prison to set the 403 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: wheels in motion for a scientific survey to get an 404 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,679 Speaker 1: official measurement for the meter, and it was on the 405 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 1: base of that directive that Jean Baptiste Josef de Lambre 406 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: and Pierre Machan set out to do just that. They 407 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: traveled in opposite directions from Paris along the meridian that 408 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: runs through that city. They went up to Dunkirk in 409 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,360 Speaker 1: the north and down to Barcelona in the south to 410 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 1: form the basis for this measurement. Yeah, it's kind of 411 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: a complicated thing where they went in those directions, and 412 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: then they came back measuring the same way, and were 413 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: meeting up to compare all of their stuff and then 414 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: extrapolate their bigger measure. The work of de Lambre and 415 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: Mechamp took seven years. It had been planned as a 416 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: one year project. It is quite a tale in its 417 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 1: own rate, and if you are interested in its twists 418 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: and turns, including an error made in calculations early on 419 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: that was covered up. There is a really fun book 420 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 1: about it that is The Measure of All Things. It's 421 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: written by Ken Alder. Ultimately, Delambre and Michamp did conclude 422 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: their work with the length of the meter established as 423 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 1: thirty nine point three seven zero zero eight inches, and 424 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: from there various divisions of the meter were calculated, as 425 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,119 Speaker 1: well as those of weights. The prefixes for multipliers of 426 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,439 Speaker 1: the meter were from Greek so decca, hector, kilo, and miria. 427 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: The divider measures took their prefixes from Latin so desi, 428 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 1: senti mili. We mentioned in our episode on the French 429 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: Republican calendar that when that ultimately failed calendar system was 430 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 1: put into practice, it used a base ten approach to 431 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 1: marking the passage of the day. Each day had ten hours, 432 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: and each hour was one hundred minutes. Each minute was 433 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 1: one hundred seconds, And that was tied to some extent 434 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: to this idea of adopting the metric system. Yeah, it 435 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,240 Speaker 1: was a very popular concept at the time. In seventeen 436 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 1: ninety nine, France declared this new system the legal standard 437 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 1: for measures. But just as there had been resistance to 438 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: a new calendar, people did not want to suddenly toss 439 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 1: out all the various measuring systems they had been using 440 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: up to that point. Listen, change is difficult. I read 441 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 1: one account that's suggested that there were actually people like 442 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,840 Speaker 1: from the government going to people's homes to try to 443 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:10,240 Speaker 1: be like, no, you got to start using the Napoleon 444 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 1: tossed the new metric system entirely in eighteen twelve, though 445 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,199 Speaker 1: at that point enough people had started using it that 446 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: the probably exasperated Emperor just decided people could use whatever 447 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 1: they wanted. He was busy trying to invad Russia that year, 448 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,359 Speaker 1: he had other stuff on his mind. Finally, in eighteen forty, 449 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: the metric system was reinstated as the official system of 450 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: the country. It took a long time for other countries 451 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: to get on board with metrication. Belgium, Luxembourg and the 452 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 1: Netherlands adopted it right behind France, but it's been a 453 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: very slow progression. Britain didn't get to it until the 454 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,239 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, although even now there are some systems that 455 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:54,119 Speaker 1: have not changed over Today, you'll often see the statistic 456 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: that there are only three countries in the world that 457 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: don't officially use the metric system. There's being Liberia, mar 458 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: and the United States. That doesn't mean that it isn't 459 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: used in those countries, though. Elizabeth Benham, writing for the 460 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:11,919 Speaker 1: National Institute of Standards and Technology in October of twenty twenty, 461 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: made the case that the US is actually using the 462 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,359 Speaker 1: metric system all the time. Benham states that in the 463 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:21,199 Speaker 1: write up quote, it is impossible to avoid using the 464 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,479 Speaker 1: metric system. In the United States. All our measurement units, 465 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:29,120 Speaker 1: including US customary units you're familiar with, feet, pounds, gallons, fahrenheit, 466 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 1: et cetera, are defined in terms of the SI, and mass, length, 467 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: and volume have been defined in metric units since eighteen 468 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: ninety three. The SI's influence is pervasive and even felt 469 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,399 Speaker 1: if most people don't know it. I envisioned US metric 470 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,120 Speaker 1: practice like a huge iceberg above the water's surface. US 471 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 1: customary units appear to still be in full effect in 472 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: actuality below the water surface. We find that all measurements 473 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: are dependent on the SI, linked through an unbroken chain 474 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: of traceable measurements. So SI in that statement, is the 475 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:10,360 Speaker 1: shortening of another name for the metric system, the international system, 476 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,199 Speaker 1: and an international system was what Wilkins and Mutaal had 477 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 1: been after this whole time. Yeah, incidentally, Mutal's MIA was 478 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:24,160 Speaker 1: adopted sort of, it became the nautical mile. Oh, there's 479 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,400 Speaker 1: so much more of the metric system. This is definitely 480 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,640 Speaker 1: high level, But I really like talking about how these 481 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 1: two men were really onto the same concept, and to 482 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: me it's such a heady idea to go a fraction 483 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 1: of the meridian, like what is that? Yeah? I have 484 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,240 Speaker 1: some listener mail related not at all to metrics, but 485 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: to Mary Somerville. This is from our listener Catherine, who writes, Hello, 486 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy. You probably had a dozen of these, 487 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: just in case not. I'm sending over a picture of 488 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: a Scottish banknote which features recent podcast subject Mary Somerville. 489 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: I've only ever got as far as wondering if she 490 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 1: is any relation to current Scottish government Minister Cabinet Secretary 491 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: for Social Justice Shirley and Somerville. Nothing on Google indicating 492 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: she is one. I have not gotten a dozen of 493 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: those two. I haven't done any research on that either, 494 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: so I don't know three banks. Catherine goes on three 495 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: banks issue notes here in Scotland, so there are a 496 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 1: lot of different designs to enjoy. I especially like the 497 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: one with otters. Yes, the cute water sausage animals. Now 498 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: I can know a bit of context on the Mary 499 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: Summerville ones too. They are legal to use around the 500 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: whole UK, but harder to get accepted the farther south 501 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: in England. You go fair enough when folks aren't familiar. 502 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 1: But the typical protest is that's legal tender, which is 503 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: another thing I've pondered the meaning of and not looked up. 504 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: I think they are legal to use, not illegal to refuse. 505 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: There are some weird rules I know in the US 506 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: about what you can and can't refuse regarding tender, but 507 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: I don't know them in Scotland or England. She included 508 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,360 Speaker 1: a cat tax. This is Nissa working hard. Thanks for 509 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: the many hours of company. I listen while I work 510 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: and then re listen to favorites on road trips, I e. 511 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: Moonbeavers in the history of Margarine. Best wishes Catherine. It's 512 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: such a pretty bank note. I have to say I'm 513 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,520 Speaker 1: obsessed with this because she is a Domino kitty. She's 514 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: black and white, and she's very pretty. I love a 515 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,360 Speaker 1: black and white cat. I love all the cats. It's 516 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: pretty hard to find a cat. I don't enjoy it. 517 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Catherine. You are, like I said, 518 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: as far as I know, you're the only person that 519 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 1: send us a picture of that bank note, so I 520 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: am deeply appreciative because it looks very pretty. If you 521 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: would like to write to us and send us pictures, 522 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: of your banknotes or anything else. You can do that 523 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also 524 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 1: find us on social media as Missed in History, and 525 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: if you have not yet subscribed, you can do that 526 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you're listening to your 527 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 1: favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 528 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 529 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,920 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 530 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: favorite shows.