Word: metrication
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Cars & Cow Dung. Compared with the nation's potential, India's economic progress during 18 years of independence is modest enough. Before independence, India had three steel mills; today there are six, producing 4.3 million metric tons of finished steel last year (v. 39.7 million metric tons for Japan). Where there was one oil refinery before 1947, there are now five. At plants in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, India produces three makes of automobiles, all small but expensive (prices range from $2,186 to $2,347; delivery guaranteed within two to eight years). Bicycles are far more popular...
...Continent uses the metric system, and adult Britons sometimes learn this by struggling futilely to adjust nuts scaled in centimeters on their stalled Volkswagens by using British wrenches that are built on inches. But help is on the way: the British government last week announced that over the next ten years Britain will convert to the metric system...
...advantage both at home and abroad is that the decimal base of the metric system makes it far easier to perform calculations. More important is the fact that Britain has its eyes on increased exports to Europe. In the past decade, the proportion of Britain's exports going to countries using the metric system, primarily in Europe, has risen from 40% to 50%. Even though the changeover will cost heavy industry, from machine tools to autos, millions in retooling expenses, businessmen were enthusiastic. The Association of British Chambers of Commerce maintained that it was "absolutely delighted...
...surprisingly, the French, who first introduced the metric system after the Revolution, were delighted. Said Paris' Le Monde, almost kindly: "The fact that the British have given themselves exactly ten years to adopt the decimal system is a happy omen. Had they been true to form, one fears they would have given themselves a period more in conformity with their tradition of measurements, such as twelve years, six months and 14½ days...
...arts should follow Ponti's example!" It is an interesting thought, but in the face of church opposition, few Italian politicians of any party are anxious to fight out the issue. As Rome Lawyer Ercole Graziadei wryly puts it: "The day will come when England will adopt the metric system and China will use the Latin alphabet. But Italy will still forbid divorce...