America’s reluctance to convert to the metric system was once
famously lampooned by television’s longest-running animated
sitcom, "The Simpsons," in an episode from way back in the
Nineties. During a town hall meeting, elderly curmudgeon Abe
“Grampa” Simpson stands up in outrage at the mention of the
metric system, the international system of measurement now
officially adopted by all but three nations in the world:
Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), Liberia -- and the United
States. “The metric system is the tool of the devil," Abe
Simpson said. "My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that’s
the way I likes it!” Grampa Simpson’s stubborn adherence to
antiquated (very antiquated -- the hogshead is a British
measurement from the 1400s) measurement terms may be funny, but
it hints at something more poignant: The U.S. is out of sync
with the modern world by sticking to units of measurement based
on the British imperial system -- which, it should be noted, was
abandoned by the United Kingdom itself long ago. But