France adopting and codifying the metric system obviously had a profound impact on the continental powers when it came to scientific research. Before adopting the system, France had regional weights and measures, often times with the same names, but differing somewhat in application. What would the effect have been if the Revolutionary and Napoleonic regimes had rejected the metric system out of hand?
WI: France doesn't adopt metric system?
- Thread starter Drunk Gracchus
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Max Sinister
Banned
Since you said "France had regional weights and measures, often times with the same names, but differing somewhat in application": Does France keep them, or introduce e.g. the measures of Paris for all of France?
There were tentatives to standardize and systematise measures, but nothing really came out of it because of a lack of appeal within the population. Arguably a proto-decimal system was already in commission during Louis XVI's reign (and if applied to distances, would probably use a measure related to Earth, as it was customary at this point), but you really have a popular adoption of the meter trough imperial systematisation in the 1810's (as well as giving up some uses, and allowing the return of measures such as toise by "meterizing" them).
ITTL, I could see an equivalent to meter appearing in France, but relatively limited to academics and scholars depending from the state, with a lack of motivation applying it really to the population. With time, maybe something close to the Napoleonic system as in toise and boisseau (among others) being systematised but surviving independently from the meter (a bit like meter and miles in US, if the mile was indexed on meter).
Without a system that makes sense, the world is probably divided into a dozen incompatible 'customary' systems. I imagine that Germany has one or two, France has one, the UK and US each have one, that like otl are almost the same, but just annoyingly different.
Places like China may continue to use their own.
It's kind of scary how late common measurement systems developed. iOTL, most of the German statelets had their own weights and measures, and several hadn't a single one, but each area or city set their own. After the Napoleonic wars, they all gradually switched to metric, because it made so much sense, even if it was an innovation of the hated Republicans/French.
God help engineers and manufacturers in such a TL!!!
Places like China may continue to use their own.
It's kind of scary how late common measurement systems developed. iOTL, most of the German statelets had their own weights and measures, and several hadn't a single one, but each area or city set their own. After the Napoleonic wars, they all gradually switched to metric, because it made so much sense, even if it was an innovation of the hated Republicans/French.
God help engineers and manufacturers in such a TL!!!
You could still have the Revolution and it being rejected. Napoleon said he didn't understand the use of the system, but was persuaded to codify it. He could just reject it from ever being used.
But I think that the invention of the Metric or a similar system was inevitable. With the progress of science the old inconvenient systems would have become obsolate and somebody would invent a scientific system of measurements. It just happened that it was the French who invented the Metric system. The only area that Metric system has not yet covered is that of "Time", which I think will have metric measurements in not so distant future. It is true that there are a few countries, that can be counted with fingers on a single hand who have not adapted the Metric system.
Someone will eventually invent something similar. Celsius or Kelvin weren't a part of the original metric system, but Kelvin later integrated into the International System. Interestingly, people kept using Celsius, probably because C and K are very similar for all common life purposes (and the boiling point is certainly much more important than the absolute zero for the regular person, Fahrenheit OTOH doesn't strike me a particularly useful unit).
It does cover it, partially, the base metric unit of time is the second.
I think there would most likely be a standard international system for measuring, but it could just be a harmonization of the old systems, so that there is a standard for inches and feet, etc. What matters most is having a common system across different countries.
A great majority of the world countries have accepted the metric system. Hence there is no point in considering any of the old systems.
We are talking about a TL in which the metric system never gets off the ground.
I do think there would be a common system used by most countries, but it could have been less rational than metric. I do not think a base-10 system was inevitable. As it happened, IOTL the country that invented metric (France) then conquered most of Europe and installed it there also.
Note that Napoleonic France reject the 10-day week and it was never revived. The old system of seven days lives on.
A common standard was definitely on its way. Whether this will be a decimal system is up for debate but a commonly agreed international standard (or 2, rival) is almost inevitable as the global economy grows ever more interlinked with foreign policy.
Just remember that the 10-day week is a much more politically sensitive issue than the metric system: the 7th day will always be the Lord's Day and according to the calender people would rest only on the 10th day. The Republican Calendar would only survive if secularism remained strong during Napoleonic times and beyond.
There were several proposals for more convenient calendar systems other than the Gregorian Calendar with 7-day weeks. The Gregorian Calendar with a 28 day month and also 31 day months without any order is quite inconvenient. Still none of the alternate proposals were ever considered seriously by any country. Even the Soviet Union which championed a revolutionary ideology did not adopt a different calendar! Well, Do anyone think that the French Revolutionary Calendar would have survived if they had adopted a 7 day week system in place of the 10 day week system which they happened to select?
Max Sinister
Banned
For some time they actually did - first with a five-day week and days named after colors (Every employee had a color, and this was your free day). Then with a six-day week. When that didn't work, they returned to the old seven-day week.
I don't think the old measurements were "inconvenient". Indeed, I'd say that, for day-to-day purposes, they were probably more convenient than the metric system, since they were mostly based off parts of the human body -- the foot being (as its name implies) the length of someone's foot, the yard being the length of someone's stride, the league being the amount of distance someone could walk in an hour, etc. Sure everybody's a different size so for precise and accurate measurements you'd need a ruler, but if you don't have one handy and a rough estimate will do, old-style measurements are going to be much easier than metric.
That's because, unlike distances, weights, and temperature, time was already standardized in the Western World since Christianity started keeping time and ringing church bells.
That's why the second was merely assumed into the metric system instead of being unsuccessfully replaced by decimalization.